What the British are really laughing about

Five years ago today, the weirdest scandal in modern British politics delighted the internet: “Pig Gate”

The rituals and secret-keeping of Britain’s privately educated elites are a cornerstone of Conservative Party unity.

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First published in The Leveller (which sadly no longer exists), I’m celebrating the fifth anniversary of “Pig Gate” by republishing my viral article here. Enjoy.

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Whether or not it’s true, the Internet has decided for the time being that British Prime Minister David Cameron probably put his private parts into the mouth of a dead pig when he was at Oxford. The allegations have been made by extremely well-connected Establishment figures, former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lord (Michael) Ashcroft, and former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, and the story is published in the Daily Mail, which makes this the highest possible tier of character assassination in British politics.

Ashcroft’s goal is, according to the Mail, “revenge”. In the years leading up to Cameron taking office in 2010, the tax-dodging billionaire had donated over £8 million to the Conservative Party, bailing them out of debt after their disastrous election defeat in 2005. He had worked as Treasurer and later Deputy Chairman of the party, helping to manage them back to an electable…