Last week Ebenezer Grayling threatened to pull out of a charity carol singing event because the local UKIP candidate had been booked to play the organ. Despite at first demanding to know how his emails were leaked to this blog, Guido is pleased to report that Grayling eventually embraced the yuletide spirit and took part. ‘Kipper church organist Robert Leach reveals:
“It was a very happy, joyful occasion. Chris Grayling did turn up. He turned up after I started playing and completely ignored me. I don’t understand it. Does he think I’m going to be playing Away in a Manager so seductively that everybody is going to say ‘listen to the piano player playing so beautifully I’m going to vote UKIP?'”
In the end £500 was raised for charity. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Every year in Epsom, Chris Grayling, the local mayor and assorted council dignitaries put aside their political differences to sing carols and raise money for charity. This year, the organisers booked a local church organist and qualified musician named Robert Leach to play the piano. Robert routinely plays at churches, schools, hospitals and old folks homes, but Ebenezer Grayling can’t get over the fact he is also the UKIP candidate in the seat for next year. The Tory MP has emailed the organisers threatening to pull out:
From: GRAYLING, Chris
Sent: 16 December 2014 22:53
To:
Cc:
Subject: SaturdayDear xxx
I note that you have departed from the norm and invited the UKIP parliamentary candidate to take part in the carol singing this weekend. In the past this has been an event purely for the Mayor and the Member of Parliament. I wonder what has prompted this change and if indeed you have extended the invitation to take part to one candidate, I would like to be reassured that you have done so for all parliamentary candidates. If you have not done so, then I will have to consider whether it is appropriate for me to take part – given how close we are to the election.
Yours
Chris
Not exactly embracing the festive spirit in this season of goodwill, especially since Grayling happily sang along while Kipper Robert played the keyboard a few years back. This year’s carol singing is on Saturday, so hopefully Grayling will don his Santa hat and stop being such a Scrooge. Bah, humbug!
