John Oliver’s ‘hilarious’ general election tirade will stream in the UK despite censorship fears

Although the episode will not be broadcast on TV, it will be available to stream online

John Oliver’s on-air tirade about the general election will be available to watch in the UK, Sky has confirmed amid concerns from British viewers.

No political party was spared in the latest episode of Oliver’s late-night talk show, which sees the Birmingham-born comedian monologue about the forthcoming general election. Moments from the segment have been praised as “hilarious” by fans after going viral on social media.

When Sky Comedy did not broadcast the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight in its usual Monday night slot yesterday (24 June), British viewers became worried that the instalment would not be made available to watch due to broadcaster regulations.

Strict impartiality rules prevented Sky from airing the episode on TV, but fans will be relieved to hear that the episode will be available to stream online later on Tuesday (25 June).

The episode will be available in full, with Oliver’s 30-minute segment on the election intact, a Sky source told Deadline.

The reason for this is because video-on-demand content is not as tightly regulated as TV in the UK.

Although the episode sees Oliver mock parties across the political spectrum, he reserves particular ire for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party as he tells viewers that the 4 July election is an opportunity to tell the “c***s, f***pigs and weirdos” to “f*** off into the sun”.

“If we do this, 4 July will no longer be known as just an American holiday,” he said.

(HBO)

Referring to the last 14 years of Tory rule, the 47-year-old quipped: “If a wild badger broke into your home and f***ed everything up for 14 years straight, tearing absolutely everything apart, you would think, ‘OK, you know what, we’ll worry about redecorating choices later. Right now, that badger needs to f***ing go.’”

Elsewhere, he took a swipe at Labour leader Keir Starmer, stating: “Fun fact about Keir, there aren’t any”.

(HBO / Sky / PA)