About 25 hours ago, Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan posted onto YouTube the video of speech he delivered yesterday afternoon in the chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during which, for want of a better phrase, he well and truly monstered Gordon Brown.
As soon as I saw it, I also posted the clip onto our PlayPolitical site and just a day later - with a little help from a Drudge Report link - nearly 80,000 over 260,000 (as at 10pm Wednesday) over 575,000 (as at 6.30am Thursday) people have watched it, making it the most viewed YouTube clip in the world today.
I have known Daniel for a decade and apart from being a robust eurosceptic who is fluent in a number of languages, he is an extremely articulate Conservative. His exposure on the web over the last 24 hours will have won him some new fans, and I imagine that they, like those of us who have known of his abilities for rather longer, would join me in hoping the party makes the best use of those talents in the months and years ahead.
You can relive yesterday's speech again below.
Jonathan Isaby
Aye Tim!
And who is going to start producing T-shirts with Dan's latin catchphrase on? Put me down for one!
Posted by: Andrew Johnson | March 26, 2009 at 01:22
Yes please.
Alan Douglas
Posted by: Alan Douglas | March 26, 2009 at 02:28
The only problem with having Hannan in the Commons would be that he wouldn't be alowed to upstage the party leadership there. Also, the Commons is a much more difficult place to make yourself heard. Not only because of the noise level but because of the Labour stooge in the speakers chair who will have no truck with well spoken types embarrassing his beloved Gordon. Well done to Dan Hannan. First rate political work. A performance that I believe will make it into future compendiums of notable British Political Speeches. As the Drudge report put it, the Prime Minister had his ass handed to him today.
Posted by: Stewart | March 26, 2009 at 03:34
It was indeed a fantastic speech. I agree Nigel Farage was also in top form, though it was not as effective as Mr Hannan's.
It takes nothing from David Cameron as leader that he has excellent MPs and MEPs upon whose talents he can draw.
May I recommend the brilliant book, "The Plan", by Daniel Hannan and Douglas Carswell to anybody who hasn't read it.
Posted by: Steve Tierney | March 26, 2009 at 03:46
"It takes nothing from David Cameron as leader that he has excellent MPs and MEPs upon whose talents he can draw."
Er, except he can't draw on them until to drops his self-imposed ban on any BOO's serving on the Front Bench.
Cameron needs to be asked directly right now if he would refuse Dan a place on the front bench because of his support for EU withdrawal.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com - Usual health warning about me to please the Editor :-) | March 26, 2009 at 07:17
Great speech Dan, hit Zanulabour and Bottler Brown exactly where it hurts.
Yes he should speak at the Tory conference and many times before and after.
He lit the bonfire of revolution and I,m read for the final battle against the Zanulabour government that has trashed my country.
Posted by: John f in Aberdeen | March 26, 2009 at 07:17
Future Prime Minister?
To be frank, only linking to the video isn't getting the most value out of this publicity, it would be good to spread information about "The Plan" and links to Daniel Hannan's blog along with the video. "The Plan" could become a best seller if you can capitalise on this publicity and that would be a great thing for Britain.
With the internet, it's hard to keep reality down. Brown looked absolutely pathetic as he shuffled about at his desk. We can't have a Prime Minister like that. It's absolutely ridiculous.
Posted by: David Galea | March 26, 2009 at 07:20
Most excellent. One has done one's bit:
http://www.englandism.co.uk/latest_news.htm
It's up.
Posted by: Englandism.co.uk | March 26, 2009 at 07:48
Cameron needs to be asked directly right now if he would refuse Dan a place on the front bench because of his support for EU withdrawal.
Why should he answer that question? This guy is a MEP who has made a speech. I was told earlier on this thread that he doesn't even want to stand in Westminster. If he wants to win election as a MP and create a profile for himself, by all means then ask if he can. But until then no leader is going to answer such hypothetical questions.
Posted by: Raj | March 26, 2009 at 07:52
I said here some time ago that Hannan was worth more than pretty much all the other tory MEPs (pro EPPers) put together - seems I am not alone in that view.
Its a shame the fixed party list system means excess votes for Hannan will go to EU-Philes whose views are so different to his.
I just hope he never went near any yachts with mandleson while he was there...
Will the weakness shown towards the BBC be reconsidered in light of their complete non-coverage of this story - it should be in the news as an european story, a financial story, a political story, an american story, an internet story, even an obama story (the speech is being seen in the USA as a valid attack on obamas polices as much as browns) - but what do the BBC have to say? Not a thing.
Posted by: pp | March 26, 2009 at 08:12
I saw Hannan on Neil Cavuto last night and he was on the verge of begging him to emigrate to the States. Later in the show he was still being talked about as a hero of ordinary people by speaking out against all the politicians.
He should hit the US speaker circuit and clean up!
Posted by: Gareth Knight | March 26, 2009 at 08:20
At the risk of sounding over-excited - Dan is still featured on Drudge! It is no mean feat getting on the Drudge radar - even as a Conservative!!
Posted by: Peter Botting | March 26, 2009 at 08:25
"Why should he answer that question?"
Because Cameron should be and needs to be actively seeking to field his strongest team and not preventing this from happening by imposing undemocratic barriers.
Dan doesn't want to be an MP? Right now, the county needs people of Dan's quality to step up to the plate, and Cameron should be working to make it happen.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com - Usual health warning about me to please the Editor :-) | March 26, 2009 at 08:36
This could be bottled and brought out later for an election party political broadcast. Why reinvent, when DH has perfected balance, tone, accuracy, directness and common sense
Posted by: martin sewell | March 26, 2009 at 08:36
Still not a word on the BBC or Sky websites. Disgraceful.
Posted by: Paul J | March 26, 2009 at 08:48
The European Parliament contains a number of very good politicians: Dan Hannan, Roger Helmer, Nirj Deva and Geoffrey Van Orden.
Dan Hannan has been making speeches of this quality for some time and if he were to come to Westminster he would be a breath of of fresh air, certainly better than most of our current MPs.
Posted by: Richard | March 26, 2009 at 08:51
I have just listened again to the speeches by Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage, and hope those who have not heard Farage will do so. I thought both speeches first class and they demolished Gordon Brown in different ways. Of course this site cannot be expected to promote UKIP, but both speeches were devastating attacks on Brown.
Farage`s speech incidentally also attracted enthusiastic responses from abroad including the USA.
Unfortunately, as has already been pointed out, Hannan`s views (and those of another Tory stalwart Roger Helmer) would not be accepted by the party leadership - too critical of our European partners.
Posted by: Edward Huxley | March 26, 2009 at 09:06
Politics at its very best. Bring him home.
Posted by: Tim Room | March 26, 2009 at 09:16
Dan Hannan has with one speech caught the mood of the nation. I've been waiting to hear a speech like this for years. If DC doesn't give Dan a more visible profile as a Tory spokesman, then even more questions as to his effectiveness as Tory leader will be asked.
Tim, yes to a Conference speech, but as an integral part of the election team, not as a 9 day wonder.
Posted by: grumpy old man | March 26, 2009 at 09:23
It would be unforgiveable for Cameron to allow the momentum and international praise generated by Dan to evaporate simply because of Cameron's innate loathing of eu-withdrawalists.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com - Usual health warning about me to please the Editor :-) | March 26, 2009 at 09:45
We have some compelling speakers - Dan Hannan, David Cameron, Ken Clarke, William Hague among others - and some who can put forward compelling political arguments - David Cameron, Michael Howard, Dan Hannan, John Redwood, Ken Clarke, Michael Fallon, Howard Flight among others.
May we know who is responsible for obtaining maximum coverage for these people? Will the BBC, ITV, C4 and Sky put Dan on today? If not, has anyone tried to get him on?
In the last week, Dan Hannan and Michael Howard have produced first-class rebuttals of Brown and all he stands for. They are much more effective than the tory front bench because they combine articulacy with facts. John Redwood also produces more hard arguments week in week out.
Could ConHome take the initiative, unless CCHQ does, and put together a collection of the best speeches/articles to further the conservative cause? They really need printing and sending out to all constituencies.
Posted by: David Belchamber | March 26, 2009 at 09:55
Great stuff.
Why don't we hear this from the Three Stooges, 'Cameron, Osborne and Clarke'.
Daniel Hannan should replace Osborne in the Shadow Cabinet. He seems wasted in Brussels.
And another strange phenomena. This is the most watched item globally on YouTube, with tremendous approvals ratings .
So why is there no mention of it on the Brown Broadcasting Company aka BBC, and indeed in the rest of the Media.
In fact why isn't it the Number One item on Conservative Home.
What's so awful, is that while the British Media are diverted by the trashing of scapegoat Fred's house and the death of Jane Goody, and the WetCons worry about how to appear nice to everyone, Megalomaniac Brown gets on with destroying England for generations to come.
Posted by: Beowulff | March 26, 2009 at 10:12
Dan is a great guy and has been a wonderful friend whom I shall greatly miss when I leaave the European Parliament in May. His speech is but one example of his tremendous talents and the only problem is that they are a bit wasted in the European Parliament. I earnestly hope that one day he will be in the House of Commons where combined with his brilliant journalism he will be a fine asset for our party. David Sumberg MEP
Posted by: David Sumberg MEP | March 26, 2009 at 10:14
Aye Aye Aye!!!
All the more impressive because his anger & passion were so clearly genuinely felt. It was not synthetic. It was empahtically not "nasty".
Posted by: Simon Chapman | March 26, 2009 at 10:27
If Daniel Hannan stood for our parliament, as he a supporter of BOO UKIP would not oppose him, in fact the party would support him.
Posted by: Edward Huxley | March 26, 2009 at 10:35
Dan the opposer.
Posted by: Patrick Harris | March 26, 2009 at 10:47
Aye Aye Sir!
Tim, it would be interesting to know if anyone at Con Home has kept a tally of the amount of airtime coverage this speech has received in the British mainstream media?
Posted by: David Parker | March 26, 2009 at 11:40
Genius Speech!!
Here' an idea, for the Euro Elections the Conservative Party should 'donate' the money it had budgeted for Advertising Agency and Publicity Material costs to pay off a small part of "The National Debt" and then just run this speech endlessly.
By the way Curly, if you are going to use the Geordie "Whey Aye" like, then you need to add the definitive "Man" as well.
As in:
WHEY AYE MAN!!!!
(See much better!).
Posted by: Geordie-Tory | March 26, 2009 at 13:02
It's time someone told Tom Harris a few home truths too.
Posted by: Curly | March 26, 2009 at 14:15
"I have known Daniel for a decade and apart from being a robust eurosceptic"
Apart from that, what do we know about the guy? Is he right wing/moderate/conservative/thatcherite/one-nation or what?
Unusually, there was nothing of note on Wikipedia...
Posted by: Comstock | March 26, 2009 at 14:24
Comstock you can read more here: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/Daniel_Hannan
there is a link in Editor's Blog Choice under Daniel Hannan MEP
Posted by: a-tracy | March 26, 2009 at 14:43
Comstock check out http://www.hannan.co.uk/ links to his telegraph blog.
Reading through those should give you an idea of what he is about.
Also he has a co-authored a book 'the plan' - fantastic guide to what a new government should spend its first 12 months doing.
He isn't shy on coming forward (the honest need not be).
Posted by: pp | March 26, 2009 at 14:50
Thanks A-tracey. I'll have a read.
Posted by: Comstock | March 26, 2009 at 15:57
Fantastic speech. Now got 700,000 hits and the number is still rising.
Why wait for the Party Conference. We have the Spring Convention coming up in Cheltenham in April. As everyone knows we have no debates nowadays, so let's have a stirring speech from Dan.
We should all tell friends, neighbours, relations, colleagues, etc. to view the U tube clip and pass it on. Maybe we can get up to a million hits. The Americans love it too.
Posted by: Caroline Strafford | March 26, 2009 at 17:03
We may see him pass the million mark before this day is through,I certainly hope he does do.
Posted by: R.Baker | March 26, 2009 at 17:55
Tim, I am having problems accessing Later Comment; has it blown a fuse?
Posted by: David Belchamber | March 26, 2009 at 18:10
Hannan was uber-brilliant. Brown had no where to go. Farage was good -for a barrow boy (I am too polite to say spiv).
Posted by: John Prendergast | March 26, 2009 at 18:54
Could we substitute Mr. Prime Minister for Mr. Obama and have him give this same speech across the pond. We are both in a dire situation and we need to remove both of these men.
Posted by: Bravo | March 26, 2009 at 19:32
Hannan-watch - now at 783,523 views
Posted by: Paul D | March 26, 2009 at 19:34
The latest choice method of attack by the Labour Party, courtesy of Draper the Plonker - aimed at Conservatives in general and Daniel Hannan in particular, is to say - 'Blogosphere, what blogosphere, its only a very small number of people!'
Thats what you might call sticking your head in the sand!
Mind you it must be very galling for the spinners and the Cabinet, who have thought for such a long time that they David Cameron and his Shadow Cabinet 'neatly stitched up' - in Parliament, courtesy of Gorbals Mick - always anxious to do Mr. Brown bidding. Now to find that the truth is leaking out so publicly, legitimately and declared in such a devastatingly simple clarity, that there is nothing to hide behind, must be causing some frantic spinning sessions!
Posted by: Patsy Sergeant | March 26, 2009 at 19:40
Whirling Dervishing is the term I think you are looking for.
Posted by: snegchui | March 26, 2009 at 19:44
Thank you snegchui LOL!!
Posted by: Patsy Sergeant | March 26, 2009 at 20:05
we are going to shanghai him to the States. We don't have any politicians with courage anymore.
Posted by: Snooper | March 26, 2009 at 20:40
Absolutely right - now lets here more of this message
You can always tell when Brown sits there and smirks that the message is hitting home
Posted by: Charles M | March 26, 2009 at 20:50
When I see Daniel Hannan in action I think to myself "What a shame that pocket boroughs were abolished". Westminster I think.
Posted by: Adam4 | March 26, 2009 at 21:13
Aye indeed! Finally someone gets to say to the Prime Minister what the vast majority of the general public want to. Lets bring Dan Hannan back home so we can see him tear shreads out of the reds more often.
Posted by: Myles Bailey | March 26, 2009 at 21:25
QUOTE: "I don't like is the way some immediately use this speech as a stick to beat the one man who is our greatest asset with the voting public and has singelhandedly done more than anyone else .. to make the Tories electable" UNQUOTE
Brown?
Posted by: Adam4 | March 26, 2009 at 21:47
Daniel Hannan as Prime Minister, John Redwood as Chancellor, David Davis as Home Secretary. Oh dear it was just a dream, now I've woken up I realise that we will have to make do with Dave and George.
Posted by: steve | March 27, 2009 at 10:00
Totals need updating again.
Now at nearly 1.5 million
Posted by: JBR | March 28, 2009 at 17:10
YES YES YES LUV IT, its all TRUE every word, GORDON has RUINED our Country!!!!!!
Posted by: TIM | March 30, 2009 at 17:22
This is the best speech I have heard in a long time. Why is Dan Hannan not in the Shadow Cabinet? Why does David Cameron not deliver the same message over and over until we rid ourselves of the worst PM the country has ever had.
Posted by: Alan Robinson | March 30, 2009 at 21:23
There is even a Daniel Hannan for US Congress website now...
www.danielhannanforcongress.com
Posted by: Luke | March 31, 2009 at 08:53
As a Celt, I think it is a mistake to call a Scottish Prime Minister "wooden and perfunctory".
Posted by: Ruth | March 31, 2009 at 11:34
Daniel Hannan is to be congratulated for his recent verbal assassination of our 'beloved' Gordon Brown. Frankly I am surprised that there are not similar speeches made on a daily basis.
Well done Sir!
Posted by: Bryan Lynn | April 02, 2009 at 11:56
Aye! Long live democracy and we must abolish all political integration and traitor Brown and ZaNu Labour must be made to pay for their treason.
Posted by: Daniel | April 05, 2009 at 02:49