Why I'm afraid of Frank Grimes (& why you should be too)
Reform UK's uprising was on the cards in the midst of New Labour's 97' landslide
Do you know this man?
You probably won’t - (I didn’t until I started pulling some thoughts together for this). This man is one Frank Grimes.
Frank features in a 1997 episode of The Simpsons. Appearing as Homer’s enemy;
'“I'm saying you're what's wrong with America, Simpson. You coast through life, you do as little as possible, and you leech off of decent, hardworking people like me. Heh, if you lived in any other country in the world, you'd have starved to death long ago. You're a fraud, a total fraud.”
I haven’t seen the episode in ages, but the crux of it is that Frank is a victim - he’s a victim of others and his demise is directly linked to his hatred of others - his weird involvement in other peoples lives. You’re what’s wrong with America? Innocent enough line in 1997, scarier in 2025.
Why Frank Grimes?
I had an interesting journey in pulling this piece together. Initially, it started as a knee jerk reaction to a total pillock. I’m not going to say his name, but he shares part of his name with our jaundiced friend Frank. He is a luvvy of the right - a gob on a stick with increasingly thinly veiled prejudices of society. Picking on all of those unable to defend themselves - gig economy workers, immigrants - and readying his tongue for those doing the damage - the far right, here and across the pond.
The sort of guy that will readily spout a cheap line in some dreary bar somewhere and take a few lager riddled laughs as indication of policy; the sort of guy whose politics never really left his bedroom, the sort of guy that has no reason to fear the crap he spins. The sort of guy that probably needs a tissue and a cigarette after blowing his beans to 50% of Jeremy Vine callers (He really is insufferable, isn’t he?). This is Mr Reform - this is our Frank Grimes.
And my problem with them? They are multiplying - we will soon be inundated by bouncing Reformers with no dose of Myxomatosis at the ready to control their numbers. These Reform Rabbits bounce into every available piece of green and pleasant land and cause their havoc. They occupy more and more of social media’s open shopfront and and a growing fringe of nascent “TV News” (GB News of course being the biggest contradiction in terms). They feature in more and more family conversations and more and more in the social feeds of impressionable teenage boys seeking some sense and control in the world around them.
So how do we stop the rise of the Reform Bunnies? With any hope, they’ll do it themselves. Frank’s own demise tells us this;
Grimes ran through the plant, psychotically impersonating Homer in a mocking fashion, and ultimately spotted some high-voltage power cables, saying, "What's this? 'Extremely high voltage.' Well, I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer Simpso--" before he is fatally electrocuted.
Why the beef with Reform UK?
Reform UK, to me, is as much a product of political failings, disillusion with mainstream politics and social media as it is Laziness. Yes, Laziness.
Each of us have our prejudices - for most people it’ll be fairly innocent - natural risk aversion and a protective cartouche of personal experiences. We’ll weigh up risks against evidence and move forward.
For some, their prejudices sit deeper and in the absence of focussed rational thought, will use the world around them to validate these fears and prejudices. It’s the lazy attitude to critical thought, to research, to open discussion - to enlightenment - to facts - that has emboldened many of the far-right rabbit kits.
There is a strong correlation between age and polarisation of political views - often to the right. Do we not become lazier as we age? Almost certainly.
My message? Grab the weights with both hands and push that bit higher. Exercise the brain, practice critical thought, engage with the world around you - you won’t need the warm blanket of Reform UK for much longer.