Members of the Liberal Democrats have been caught in an awkward episode as they were heard singing “Tony Blair can f**k off and die” at an annual late night karaoke event during their party’s conference in Bournemouth, causing both laugh and rage in the Twitter comment section.
Those in attendance could be heard singing along in an enthusiastic choir, to the tune of American Don McLean’s classic song, American Pie:
cos that’s pie in the sky
Us Lib Dems will take courage and cry
Tony Blair can f**k off and die
Tony Blair can f**k off and die
The video of the multi-voice singalong bringing up Blair, who pulled Britain into Iraq back in 2003, was posted on Twitter by the Financial Times’ political editor George Parker, spawning a wealth of reactions, with emotions running high indeed. "Lib Dems at their traditional Glee Club knees up with a popular ditty", he captioned the post going on to sum up the main gist.
Where’s Chuka? Lib Dems at their traditional Glee Club knees up with a popular ditty in which Tony Blair is told to “f*** off and die” pic.twitter.com/l0bDGoXqDC
— George Parker (@GeorgeWParker) 16 сентября 2019 г.
Some felt the lyrics were not in tune with the approach of "so-called Liberals" - "a moderate party", while others took a dig at the media, which would have "gone into meltdown" if the Brexit Party had referenced the former Labour prime minister in such a way.
Or if it was the Brexit Party.
— Jan Hoggarth (@HoggarthJan) 17 сентября 2019 г.
"My first time at a Lib Dem conference. This Glee Club thing was nerdy and silly and this was a silly chorus of a geeky old song. It’s the last thing that should worry you", wrote Jonathan Pritchard, "imperial astrophysicist and bewildered vagabond" as he calls himself in a Twitter bio.
I’m sure most LibDems hate this song and love it at the same time. Holding two contradictory opinions concurrently doesn’t seem to be an issue for them. It’s a unique talent peculiar to LibDems.
— George Duncan (@cellini13) 17 сентября 2019 г.
"Even our great NHS would have difficulty trying to diagnose their problem", another sceptical user shared over the Lib Dems’ sharp-tongued chorus.
"would genuinely be a better manifesto commitment than Stop Brexit", another shared.
However, there were voices in defence, calling to switch on common sense and differentiate between fun and political manifestos:
It's not a policy position. It's not a manifesto commitment.
— Rob Anthony 🔶 (@RobAnthony01) 17 сентября 2019 г.
It's an offensive song. One of many sung at the end of the conference in a separate event.
