Templar

The question is: which way would Simon Templar vote at the EU referendum? That’s Roger Moore in British TV series: The Saint. The character’s initials (ST) gave him the name “The Saint”. It’s also the registration of an iconic Volvo sports car.

An archetypal post-war Robin Hood, this fictional star didn’t much care for the “ungodly” or the con artists. Impeccably dressed, Templar could become embroiled in a fight and yet with one brush of his hair look like nothing had happened. Which way would this fictional character, in black and white or colour, vote in the forthcoming referendum?

A pre-war mystery called a “Prelude for War” was adapted and updated for TV. That story became titled: The Saint Plays with Fire (1963) and is the best indicator to me that Simon Templar would vote to REMAIN in the EU.

The story goes like this: A young undercover journalist is murdered by a member of the British Nazi Party. Simon Templar takes up the investigation for a friend. The writer’s papers were not destroyed. There’s a struggle to recover the papers. Naturally it’s got a cliff hanger where the Saint has to escape a deadly fire set by his enemies.

At the start of the TV show there’s a fascist rally taking place in London. Then the camera pans to the Saint who gives a short speech direct to the viewers.

It goes like this: Less than 20 years ago we won the war against Nazi tyranny. And today, the spectre is emerging again – it’s the same shabby doctrine – race hatreds, survival of the fittest, brutal intimidation of the opposition – I’ve heard it before and it sickens me – just as it sickens the vast majority of people here in Trafalgar Square – frightening isn’t it.

Listening to that, I can’t help but think this is the future of UKIP. And it is frightening.