Nigel Farage has called on Ukip supporters to buy a new calypso theme tune sung in a fake-Caribbean accent by the former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read.
Among other subjects, the song tackles the UK's attitude to immigration with the lines: "Leaders committed a cardinal sin, open the borders let them all come in; illegal immigrants in every town, stand up and be counted Blair and Brown."
The song was soon trending on Twitter, under the hashtag #ukipcalypso. Here's what some of the wittiest tweeters had to say about it.
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It might be bad, but is it the worst party anthem ever?
Is #ukipcalypso the worst political anthem ever? Maybe not... http://t.co/HBxlyDjN89 — Matthew Paul (@matthewgpaul) October 20, 2014
Some demanded a swift and appropriate response from the other major parties:
Come on Labour! Where's the Bollywood response by @johnprescott ? #ukipcalypso — mushybees (@mushybees) October 20, 2014
Fortunately, Ed Balls was on hand with an official reaction from his party’s leader, Ed Miliband:
Ed M responds quickly to #ukipcalypso http://t.co/6jRJlWT1rs — Ed Balls (@eddbaIlsmp) October 20, 2014
The song may be many things, of course, but it is not racist:
#UKIPcalypso is NOT racist, assures DJ Mike Read, a 67-yr-old white guy singing in a faux Carribean accent http://t.co/OJ4PhAZenO— Hari (@__Hari__) October 20, 2014
One user thought he had found hidden wordplay in the trending hashtag:
FACT: #ukipcalypso is an anagram of Impending Apocalypse — Pat Long (@PatLongTweets) October 20, 2014
Ukip Calypso... Sounds familiar, now where have we heard that name before?
Is it just me, or does #ukipcalypso sound like a drag name? — Jessica Twentyman (@jtwentyman) October 20, 2014
The ever-reasonable David Mitchell puts the furore in its proper political context:
Mike Read has form in this area, as this classic @RealDMitchell rant reminds us: http://t.co/WCrhRswxUx #UKIPCalypso — Tomb Doran (@portraitinflesh) October 20, 2014
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