The Wankers - United: A national farce in Union Jack drag

So, the so-called “Great British National Strike” on May 24, 2025, or as it should be known, Middle England’s Day of Mild Inconvenience,  came and went with all the impact of a soggy flyer for double glazing.   Organised by a bloke named Richard Donaldson (no, not a political strategist, just an ex-squaddie with a webcam and a dream), the event was billed as a grassroots uprising.  In reality, it was a handful of grumpy Facebook uncles and TikTok swivel-eyed conspiracy tourists waving flags at traffic.   

Donaldson, bless him, has built his following ranting against immigrants, climate policies, and foreign aid, which is basically a word salad of 'things I don’t understand but saw on GBeebies'.  Unsurprisingly, the event's rhetoric mirrored the bingo card of far-right ideology: illegal immigration bad, wokeness out of control, climate change a hoax. As openDemocracy and GoFundMe pages made clear, it was more Poundland Stormfront than popular revolt.   

And speaking of ideological hand-holding: while Reform UK Ltd (yes, it’s a limited company, not a movement, check Companies House) didn’t officially run the show, their fingerprints were all over it. Reform councillors and members were spotted joining in around the country like it was some tragic reunion tour of Brexit 2016. The party, led by the ever-recycling frog faced Nigel Farage, routinely attracts the hard right like moths to a 'Keep Britain British' flame. The Times even reported Reform UK ltd holding events at venues with longstanding far-right histories, like the Talbot Club, a hotspot for hard-right cosplayers in Blackpool.  Fash in the sun. 

But let’s look at who actually turned up. According to reports, the crowds skewed decidedly beige. Attendees were mostly over-40s, white, and male, the sort of people who think 'real Britain' ended with decimalisation and still call it 'the wireless'. This is your silent majority, apparently, though the yappy cunts are anything but silent. They’ve just swapped actual influence for YouTube live-streams and passive-aggressive flag waving.   

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the actual working class: you know, doctors, nurses, teachers, posties, civil servants are fighting tooth and nail for fair pay and investment in services. These are people organising through actual unions, not Telegram chats. They're pushing back against pathetic pay deals that barely graze inflation. If this 'strike' on May 24th were a true expression of working-class discontent, you’d have seen UNISON, the RCN, the FBU, Train unions and others on board. But they were all, quite rightly, elsewhere, doing their jobs or preparing for real  industrial action.  Why? Because no serious union is going to throw its lot in with a faux revolt timed for a bank holiday weekend.  You don’t storm the Bastille when everyone’s at fucking B&Q.  #EpicGammonFail

And yet, despite the embarrassingly piss poor turnout, the Government is now doing cartwheels to appease these people, mostly because Reform UK Ltd nabbed a few local council seats by shouting "BOATS!" louder than anyone else.  What kind of policymaking is this?  You don’t govern like you’re afraid of the comments section. This isn’t a groundswell. It’s a tea-stained tantrum dressed up as revolution.   Let’s be blunt: the May 24th 'strike' was a damp, red-white-and-blue flag shagging squib: not a populist uprising but a parade of resentment. And the idea that this crew represents any kind of majority is laughable. They are not the 'silent majority'; they are the algorithmically-amplified minority:  louder online than they are on the streets, and yesterday clearly demonstrated this.  A WhatsApp echo chamber dressed in nostalgia and self-pity.

It’s time the Government stopped flirting with this shitmuppetary.  It's time they saw Reform UK Ltd's reactionary cosplay for what it is and got on with governing. We don’t need politicians playing footsie with nationalism-lite because they’re scared of being pummelled on Twitter.  

The future of Britain doesn’t lie with the swivel-eyed fringe, it lies with the millions who didn’t turn up, because they were too busy keeping the country running or enjoying their bank holiday that was won for them by the Trade Unions.  The real representatives of the working class 

The world has gone mad. If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to look at the rest of the blogs on www.TetleysTLDR.com. They're free to view, there's no paywall, they aren't monetised and I won't ask you to buy me a coffee. Also please free to share anything you find of interest, we only get the message out if people are aware of it. Just a leftie, standing in front of another leftie, asking to be read. All the best, Tetley