Is it permissible to abuse MPs whose views we oppose?

In the past couple of weeks, Nigel Farage has had a milkshake thrown over him, David Davies has been called a liar and a traitor, and Chris Bryant has had the word 'traitor' painted across his office in giant red letters. It's also becoming a fairly regular occurrence for female MPs to receive death or rape threats - often from members of the public online but sometimes from other politicians! No doubt this is just the tip of the iceberg; probably countless other politicians have been verbally or physically attacked on the street. It is evident that threats and violence against MPs is at 'unprecedented levels'; some news outlets have suggested that this rise is because of Brexit.

Whatever the cause, it is not just shocking, but shameful, that so many news outlets - even supposedly respectable ones such as the Independent - have branded the Farage-milkshake incident as "funny". Assaulting politicians who are trying to do a day's work is not funny, and it's not OK. Three years ago in June 2016, Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered by a far right lunatic. This was not funny or OK either. If Nigel Farage or David Davies had been seriously injured or killed, would this have been "funny"?

Whether you have left-wing ideals or right-wing ideals, whether you're a Leaver or a Remainer, whether you're online or in person, it is not acceptable to abuse or attack politicians (or anyone).

There may be some extreme circumstances where it is OK - perhaps if the country's leader is a genocidal dictator, and everyone (even his entourage) wants rid of him, and the only way to remove him from power is through violence, then maybe if other possibilities have been exhausted, violence may be permissible (or even right).

But we are light years away from that sort of extreme situation. Nigel Farage is not a genocidal dictator; he is a politician trying to do a day's work to increase support for his party. The same can be said of David Davies, Jess Phillips, the late Jo Cox, and other UK politicians who have been victims of assaults and abuse.

We might disagree with their policies; we might think they will ruin the country; we might think they are liars, dangerous for politics, or even that they are horrible human beings. But that doesn't entitle us to assault or abuse them.

Politicians are just people who are responding to public demand, so if we want to see the real villains who have caused this country's problems, we need only to look around us. We, the British people are the cause of British political problems. If the BNP, UKIP, or the Brexit party are becoming more successful, that is because of the will of the people; the parties and their leader are just fulfilling demand and trying to rise to power by giving people what they want. If no one voted these people in, they would be powerless. The Brexit referendum was promised by David Cameron in 2013 and that promise was at least partly the reason for Cameron's re-election as Prime Minister. It may have thrown our country into temporary turmoil, but democracy involves giving the people what they want, and once the votes have been cast, we should accept the results with some good old British resolve. I don't like the Conservative government, but that's what people voted for and so that's what we've got. Democracy is very valuable, and we can still value democracy while hating it's outcomes.

If we don't like our country's leaders then there are reasonable and unreasonable ways of making our views known:
- voting in elections and referendums = reasonable
- writing to our MPs or other politicians in a firm but non-abusive way = reasonable
- telling politicians face-to-face that their policies are misguided, abhorrent, or problematic = reasonable
- taking to Twitter or other social media to publicly insult and threaten politicians = unreasonable
- throwing food, drinks etc. at politicians in the street = unacceptable
- physically attacking politicians = unacceptable

If we don't like our politicians  (and I can't say I do) then we should criticise their policies and show up their policies for what they are (eg. lies, bigotry, nanny state or whatever) rather than attack individual politicians. Last year I wrote this post about why people should stop criticising Donald Trump's hairstyle, skin colour and saying he has a tiny penis; instead they should criticise his racist policies and mysogynistic attitudes. The same is true of Nigel Farage and indeed all politicians; criticise and attack their policies, not the individuals themselves.

In the heat of the moment, it might seem that a rare opportunity to throw a drink at Nigel Farage is something to make the most of, but I can't help but wonder what might have transpired if his attacker had been holding a knife rather than a milkshake. Would people rejoice in the same way they declared "Ding dong the witch is dead!" when Margaret Thatcher passed away?

Whether someone throws a knife, throws a punch, or throws a milkshake, it is still an assault and it won't stop Farage's devoted following. In fact it might even increase his following - he will probably gain at least some sympathy votes out of it (mine won't be one of them though). At any rate, it won't diminish any following he has, and as The Sun points out, "it'll be him who has the last laugh".

Vigilantes are vigilantes, whether they are left-leaning or right-leaning. We may not like our politicians - we may actively hate them - but that doesn't legitimise abuse and violence. Twitter (and other social media such as Instagram) is a forum for the worst humanity has to offer. People get bolder behind their keyboards and say and do things which they might not normally do in person. I wrote about this just recently in this post, in response to a girl who took her own life after 69% of people in an Instagram poll voted that she should kill herself. As I noted earlier, it is reasonably commonplace for female MPs to receive death threats and rape threats via social media. It's just appalling, whatever the policies leanings or policies of the politician. We must remember that even if someone with horrendous policies is elected, they may be unable to push those policies into law. For example if a politician were elected whosee manifesto supported the introduction of Sharia Law, the reintroduction of slavery, and legalisation of child abuse, these policies would not make it through the House of Commons or Lords, and would quite possibly be prevented by international bodies and organisations. Politicians usually only deliver on their most centrist of pledges.

Whatever we may think about politicians and their policies, we need to behave with a certain amount of decorum; this involves civilised discussion, not violence. But if violence is inflicted upon politicians, I support their right to respond with proportionate violence, the way John Prescott did when he punched a man who threw an egg in his face.