Downe is a quiet village with a big history but it’s home to Nigel Farage’s two local pubs, both of which are pretty decent places for a drop. So, the Ukip leader was ousted from his Sunday lunch in the Queen’s Head last Sunday (22 March) by the Beyond Ukip Cabaret Group who had originally hired the George and Dragon‘s function room (without revealing the nature of their booking).
Having been tipped off that Farage was eating 200 metres down the road at the Queen’s Head, the group speedily headed there. No one likes deserting a family Sunday lunch so I guess what started off as a good humoured affair might have turned a bit ugly. Usually Downe is full of cyclists and walkers at that time, many no doubt enjoying the bonus entertainment provided by the cabaret group, whose desire to represent diversity led them to appear like extras from some under-resourced global disaster movie.
Anyway, let me just reassure you, dear readers, that EU flag-burning nights and torchlit processions behind smouldering Jean-Claude Juncker effigies remain unknown in Downe; it’s just a village dragged reluctantly into the limelight, for a few days only (hopefully).
Read accounts of the protest by a Guardian journalist who joined the cabaret group, and the riposte to his report from the Guardian-reading landlord of the Queen’s Head. Interestingly, many of the protestors have realised that the events were a bit of an own goal, given that Farage’s children and those of other diners in the pub were apparently terrified. To avoid deep depression about the future of the country, don’t read the comments.
Kent walks near London 