The politically correct tactics of the mob outside parliament

People are talking about the ugly protests outside parliament as if they are a new and strange phenomenon in British politics. The rough bellowing at politicians. The hollering of the word ‘Nazi!’ at people who clearly aren’t Nazis. The attempt to shout down politicians and journalists who simply want to make a political point. It is all so shocking and strange and un-British, commentators claim. Really? To me, the protests look and sound incredibly familiar. They look like another expression of the nasty, censorious, violent-minded political correctness that has been growing for years in this country. These protests aren’t fascism in action — they’re political correctness in action.

All the elements are there. The branding of your opponents as fascists and Nazis. ‘Anna Soubry is a Nazi!’, the self-styled ‘yellow vest’ mob hollered on College Green while Soubry was being interviewed by the BBC. The casual flinging about of the ‘fascist’ slur is par for the course these days.