It hardly inspires confidence when the “brains trust” which is supposed to be negotiating Britain’s exit terms from the European Union can’t even manage to negotiate a discount card with a popular chain of Portuguese chicken restaurants.
But Nando’s has snubbed the Tory Party, after a botched attempt to nab discounts for Young Conservatives was put forward as part of a desperate-looking recruitment drive. The idea turned out to be a bit of a turkey, rather than spicy chicken.
The proposal has the sauce-stained fingerprints over it of Gavin Barwell, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, ex-MP for Croydon and someone known for nabbing himself a cheeky Nando’s in the High Street on a Friday night.
The Tories have an ageing and dwindling membership, barely one-fifth the size of Labour’s burgeoning 550,000 under Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s easy to understand why they are having trouble recruiting younger members when they appoint MP Ben Bradley as vice-chairman for youth. The same Ben Bradley who suggested jobless people should have vasectomies.
The Nando’s discount card – one of a number of company discounts the Tories would like to offer to their members – was an idea floated in the weekend papers, but it failed to fly when the restaurant chain rebuffed the suggestion.
“As a brand we have no political affiliations and we are not considering this,” a spokesman for the restaurant said.
Completely clucked: in fact, Barwell will be paying full whack for his Friday nights out
Labour said that the very public rebuff left the Tories looking… peri peri silly.
Seems that Barwell will be paying full price for his Friday nights out for a while yet, then…
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Barwell and the Nando’s thing never really struck a true chord did it. Was it all a desperate image attempt to make them more attractive to younger voters? It really says a lot about their attitudes to young voters and their lives if they think this would be the most persuasive way of capturing their support rather than provide them with a more secure housing and employment future than the insecure day by day randomness they now face.