Tuesday January 8, 2019

Anna Soubry is not KJM Today's favourite politican, although she undoubtedly has supporters not only within our ranks but elsewhere. That of course, is as it should be but we will not shy away from being critical of both her and those among the ranks of MPs that act in the same way.

To have the freedom to criticise our elected representatives is one of those freedoms to be cherished and protected but there is a difference between being rationally critical and the abuse hurled at Soubry yesterday. As police officers stood by and did nothing, the Remain-backing Tory MP was called a 'Nazi' by some idiots wearing yellow vests as she was interviewed on College Green. Even more worryingly, the same self-appointed political vigilantes then harassed her as she tried to get into Parliament afterwards. MPs of all parties rallied to her defence and a demand has now been delivered to the Metropolitan Police requiring action. One must hope however that such action is not to corral off College Green and make it inaccessible to ordinary people but while Soubry is undoubtedly strong enough to stand up for herself, the question is whether she should have to. “This is what has happened to our country,” she told the BBC. Not only is she right but she is not the only one to have been on the end of such treatment recently.

Honest protest is one thing but there must be no place for abuse in our society.