Sabcat bills itself as a co-operative making “Anarchist, Socialist and Community T-shirts, along with antifascist shirts”.
“Before we were a business, we were ‘up to no good’,” the co-op says, citing involvement in environmental protests in the 1990s and “agitprop” – agitation propaganda – in the 2000s.
“If you’ve seen the ubiquitous 3-arrow antifascist design you’ve seen our work,” they said, adding: “We aren’t just a shop; we’re dedicated to equality, solidarity, and high-quality trouble-making.”
‘Anarchist Tory-hating workers’
Elsewhere, Sabcat describes itself as “Anarchist Tory-hating workers”.
Advertising the guillotine T-shirt, the website wrote: “Who could Nigel be? And why the guillotine?
“Whether it’s a nod to the XTC classic or a sharper bit of political satire, this design is for those who prefer their statements with a side of mystery.”
The phrase on the T-shirt originates from a 1979 song of the same name by English rock band XTC.
The garment had retailed at £20, with Sabcat saying profits would go toward funding garment-worker solidarity campaigns and supporting trade unions. “Wear your values,” it added.
It is unclear whether the man who wore the garment to the Green Party event bought the item from Sabcat.
Andrew Bennetts, a former director of Sabcat, said the co-operative had long used screen printing to provoke a reaction.
‘It’s comedy’
“It’s comedy,” he said. “I know somebody else has done a version of the T-shirt now with ‘Nigel is so vain he thinks this T-shirt is about him’.”
Mr Bennetts, who left the co-operative eight years ago, said his former business partner Andrew Fox was now the driving force of the operation.
“I think he mainly prints for other people now and he bangs up the odd design himself.”
Asked whether the XTC lyric could be Mr Fox’s handiwork, he said: “He’s a big music fan, but the whole thing is just tongue in cheek bulls—.
“Farage has shared it because it’s anything so ‘people don’t look at the £5m I’ve had’.”
Asked about the T-shirt’s page being taken down on the Sabcat website, he said: “He’s probably took it down because he’s getting too much s— off journos.”