THE creator of Trainspotting has praised a parody video of the film attacking the Conservatives’ “short-term populism”.
Irvine Welsh, the author behind the Edinburgh-based book, shared the video on social media on Wednesday – after Rishi Sunak had given his keynote closing speech to the Conservative conference.
The clip, from the publishing firm Joe, parodies the famed opening scene to Danny Boyle’s movie version of Trainspotting, featuring lead man Ewan McGregor running through the streets of Scotland’s capital.
READ MORE: Prime Minister officially scraps Manchester leg of HS2 at Tory conference
With the heads of prominent Tories including Sunak, Liz Truss, and Boris Johnson superimposed, the video’s voiceover states: “Choose life. Choose net zero. Choose clean air. Choose my career. Choose a big flip-flopping live.
“Choose ignoring climate experts, in favour of a Daily Mail hack. Choose seven bin gaslighting.
“Choose saying you understand the struggles of ordinary people – while keeping a straight face.
“Choose your friends (well, not working class friends).”
Trainspotting parodies usually bore the shit out of me, but I quite like this one. pic.twitter.com/yTbWqVP19x
— Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) October 4, 2023
The video then mocks Johnson as a “deceitful hunt”, and his fellow former Tory prime minister David Cameron – who is labelled “Sick Boy”.
It goes on: “Choose the governmental shelf life of an iceberg lettuce with the financial savvy of a root vegetable.
“Choose sitting on a damp couch, breathing black mould in a mind numbing, spirit crushing Tory shit show.
“Choose nepotism, sycophancy and barely concealed cronyism.”
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak compared to Margaret Thatcher for comments about trans people
Finishing with a shot of Sunak, the video says: “I chose short-term populism. And the rail links? There will be no rail links. Who needs railways when you've got a private jet?”
Sharing the video on social media, Welsh said: “Trainspotting parodies usually bore the shit out of me, but I quite like this one.”
Others also praised the video. “This is magic,” one user wrote, while another said: “I was thinking what a work of genius this was, and hadn’t even noticed who posted it. Respect.”
A third added: “We can laugh … but we should be so angry about everything they are doing.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel