Mob attack on Carswell was a disgrace
Obviously I very strongly disagree with Douglas Carswell's decision to move from the Conservatives to UKIP. I do not like the party he has joined.
However, it is typical of the man that he should have been walking past Scotland Yard when there was an anti-Globalisation protest and should have stopped to chat to some of the demonstrators.
It is the sort of politics we once had in this country that a prominent politician could, if they had the guts, as Carswell does and many politicians right up to the status of Prime Minister once did, stop and talk to demonstrators instead of being cocooned in TV studios or party meetings with carefully selected people.
But then suddenly, because some of the demonstrators other than those he was talking to had recognised him, a large and threatening flash mob formed, shouting things like "UKIP, Racist" and "Scum."
Douglas Carswell had to be taken away in a police van for his own protection.
How on earth do the demonstrators imagine that behaving like THIS will advance the views they were expressing?
It doesn't. It makes them look like anti-democratic thugs.
When I was a student I remember that one particular person on the right of the Conservative party used to wind up the left at any opportunity by describing anyone left of Ted Heath as "Red Fascist Scum!"
That accusation was usually well over the top, but I think the expression "Red Fascist" would not be out of place as a description of the behaviour of the mob which attacked Douglas Carswell.
There are plenty of honourable and decent left-wingers who agree with the objectives which the protesters think they were supporting but would never dream of acting like that. They are the people who the mob most betrayed.
However, it is typical of the man that he should have been walking past Scotland Yard when there was an anti-Globalisation protest and should have stopped to chat to some of the demonstrators.
It is the sort of politics we once had in this country that a prominent politician could, if they had the guts, as Carswell does and many politicians right up to the status of Prime Minister once did, stop and talk to demonstrators instead of being cocooned in TV studios or party meetings with carefully selected people.
But then suddenly, because some of the demonstrators other than those he was talking to had recognised him, a large and threatening flash mob formed, shouting things like "UKIP, Racist" and "Scum."
Douglas Carswell had to be taken away in a police van for his own protection.
How on earth do the demonstrators imagine that behaving like THIS will advance the views they were expressing?
It doesn't. It makes them look like anti-democratic thugs.
When I was a student I remember that one particular person on the right of the Conservative party used to wind up the left at any opportunity by describing anyone left of Ted Heath as "Red Fascist Scum!"
That accusation was usually well over the top, but I think the expression "Red Fascist" would not be out of place as a description of the behaviour of the mob which attacked Douglas Carswell.
There are plenty of honourable and decent left-wingers who agree with the objectives which the protesters think they were supporting but would never dream of acting like that. They are the people who the mob most betrayed.
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