The pen is mightier than the milkshake ...

I was never very keen on the late Sir Harold Wilson and still less soon on John, later Lord, Prescott. Nor am I a fan of Jeremy Corbyn or Nigel Farage.

But apart from my not agreeing with their politics, all those people have something else in common.

Every one of them is more intelligent than the muppets who threw eggs or milkshakes at them - not that this is a high bar.

The instant you resort to throwing things, you have proved that you don't have the brains to win a debate.

Margaret Thatcher famously said that if your opponents resort to attacking you personally, they only show up their lack of good political arguments.



But throwing eggs or milkshakes is even worse - you have not only signalled that you don't have any good political arguments, you've shown you don't even have the wit to think of a good insult.

If the person you throw the shake at has any political skill they will, if you'll pardon the expression, "milk" the incident for all the sympathy they can get.

The more unpalatable a political candidate is, the more daft it is to throw a milkshake at them. Why put yourself in the wrong, energise their supporters and generate sympathy for them? It is worse than a crime, it is just plain stupid.

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