The Scottish Conservatives stole a comedian’s joke... and it massively backfired

Note to political parties: if you’re going to appropriate a comedian’s jokes, make sure they’re with you, not fiercely against you.

This was the lesson learnt by the Scottish Conservatives on Wednesday when they seized a quote from a popular sketch to poke fun at one of their SNP rivals.

The sketch, by self-styled “livestream jester” Limmy, consists of a bare-chested man storming through the streets, crying: “She’s turned the weans (kids) against us”.

The Tories nabbed the famous line for a tweet designed to mock Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf.

Yousaf had suggested that a recent poll on Scottish independence was “rigged” as he asked whether Scots would prefer current first minister Nicola Sturgeon to lead the country through the Covid crisis or her Tory rival Douglas Ross.

The Conservatives responded by retweeting Yousaf’s post with the caption: “They’ve turned the weans against us’ vibes from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.’”

Limmy, who has been a vocal supporter of Scottish independence, was made aware of the hijacking during a live stream on Twitch.

A fan mentioned the Tories’ move to the comic, real name Brian Limond, who instantly looked up the offending tweet.

“Oh f*** right off!” he fumed, adding added: “The f****** Tories using my f******,” before trailing off and looking disgusted.

Covering all bases, he also hit back on Twitter – retweeting the Conservatives’ post, this time with the caption: “Honk if Thatcher’s deid.”

This time, he was referencing his most viewed video, which sees him commenting on an animation of a goose and telling it to honk if the divisive former prime minister and Tory leader, Margaret Thatcher, is dead.

Scores of Twitter users and presumed SNP fans replied gleefully with honks in a mark of defiance against their rivals.

Meanwhile, other users and fans of the comedian described the Tories’ move as “disgusting patter thievery of the highest order”.

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