Apparently, milkshakes are a popular item for violent political demonstrators in Scotland to throw at right-wing politicians with whom they disagree. According to CNN International, police have ordered a McDonald’s in Scotland to stop selling milkshakes while Brexit champion Nigel Farage campaigns nearby.
“Police ordered a McDonald’s in Scotland to stop selling milkshakes over fears people would dunk them over Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, staff said, after a flurry of incidents left prominent far-right activists doused in the creamy liquid,” CNN reported. “Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, was holding an event in Edinburgh on Friday ahead of next week’s European elections.”
With a McDonald’s just a “few hundred meters” away, police feared that it would become the base-camp for violent demonstrators to stock up on a milkshake arsenal.
“We will not be selling milkshakes or ice cream tonight,” a sign reads in the McDonald’s window. “This is due to a police request given recent events.”
This bizarre movement reportedly went viral earlier this month when a video showed Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) get dunked by a McDonald’s milkshake at a campaign.
“Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, had the same drink thrown over him just days later at another event,” reports CNN. “Another protester tried to do the same to UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin, who is being investigated by police over comments speculating about whether he should rape a female MP, but the liquid narrowly missed his head.”
According to ITV News, an anonymous staff member at the fast food chain found the ban “ridiculous” and did not think milkshakes would be in high demand from political activists. The ban prompted a wave of jokes and mockery on social media, with the Burger King U.K. tweeting: “Dear people of Scotland. We’re selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun. Love BK.”
When people on social media accused Burger King of endorsing political violence, the official account clarified they did not want people to use their milkshakes to “have fun” in that way. “We’d never endorse violence – or wasting our delicious milkshakes! So enjoy the weekend and please drink responsibly people,” the account said.
According to Euronews, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is leading in the polls in the run-up to the European Parliament elections:
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has been surging ahead in opinion polls in the run-up to the European Parliament elections. This is despite the fact that the party is only weeks old and has no detailed policies.
It’s thought a successful result for the new party could push Britain’s ruling Conservative government to pursue a harder Brexit. The UK is now due to leave the EU on October 31.
Farage’s objectives go beyond getting the UK out of the EU. The veteran Eurosceptic now says he also wants “to change politics for good.”
The European vote has given Nigel Farage a perfect opportunity to tap into widespread public anger at the Brexit delay and the parliamentary paralysis. Nearly three years after the referendum, these are the elections the UK was not expected to fight.