Led by Donkeys show their faces at last: ‘No one knew it was us’
The Birdcage pub in Stoke Newington, north London, seems an unlikely birthplace for a rebellion. On a midweek afternoon, the bar is almost empty. Spring sunshine streams through the windows; Spandau Ballet provide a gentle soundtrack; black-hatted men from the local ultra-Orthodox Jewish community pass by outside.
The only customers are four men sitting at a table in an alcove. It was at this spot, more than five months ago, that this group of friends came up with an idea born from their collective despair over the “lies, lunacy and hypocrisy” of the Brexit process.
That idea was to emblazon the 2015 tweet by the then prime minister David Cameron, “Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband”, across a giant billboard. Since then, it has turned into a national campaign that has captured the imagination of millions of people, sparked heated debate and infuriated Nigel Farage and his supporters.
