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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Marina Hyde

Remember, remember, the fifth of November, when a bad guy tried to blow up a political system

Guy Fawkes and Donald Trump.
Guy Fawkes and Donald Trump. Composite: Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Brian Snyder/Reuters

Well … we finally got to 5 November. Of course, you know the story. Once upon a time, there was a bad guy who wanted to set fire to a country’s political system. Metaphorically, but also literally. I mean, he wasn’t subtle, this guy. This Guy, I should say, because his name was Guy Fawkes. Why – who did you think I was talking about?

Because time’s a great healer, Britons now celebrate the thwarting of this truly awful Guy’s insurrection with fireworks, fires and organised effigy-burning. But the good version of those things – not the kind we do when we go out of a football tournament in the later stages. We’re still working on teasing out the family fun in those particular moments.

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