The major parties should boycott Farage's dodgy by-election

Liberal Democrat HQ doesn't need much encouragement to ignore unpromising parliamentary by-elections these days - it's worryingly reminiscent of the Nick Clegg years.

But in the case of the Clacton by-election Nigel Farage has just engineered, we would be right to ignore it. We should not field a candidate.

And the other major parties shouldn't field one either.

In a move straight from the Trump playbook, Farage wants to turn his by-election into a people versus the Establishment election. He says the voters of his constituency should be the judge of his actions.

The people of Clacton can vote how they choose, but they have no power to overturn the rules the House of Commons has put in place to regulate the conduct of its members.

So if this is an attempt by Farage to dodge an inquiry into his exotic finances, it will fail.

Let him be opposed by boring Count Binface and a cast of assorted nutters. The major parties should have nothing to do with his by-election.