Why politically motivated assault is bad, actually.

Nigel Farage gets the milkshake treatment again and the left has learned nothing

It appears that milkshake season is upon us once again, which also means that I am obliged to assume the role of ‘the only sane person on the left’ by having to explain to my fellow leftists why politically motivated assault is bad, actually.

The left-wing trend of launching beverages at political figures they dislike began in 2019. Tommy Robinson, Carl Benjamin and Nigel Farage were the the most notable recipients. Oh, and an army veteran in his 80s who was out and about campaigning on behalf of the Brexit party.

These acts of politically motivated assault were celebrated far and wide in mainstream leftist circles. Comedian Jo Brand even felt comfortable on the BBC joking "…why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?".

Although I appeared on LBC radio to defend Brand’s right to make this joke, one can’t help but notice a double-standard when it comes to what mainstream culture and institutions will allow the left to get away with saying.

In 2019, the act of “milkshaking” people the left didn’t care for continued to be celebrated and encouraged. Flyers were created notifying people of another planned Tommy Robinson event in Oldham, instructing people to “bring your milkshakes or whatever else you want to throw at him”. In entirely predictable fashion, eggs, glass and bricks were thrown at Robinson and his supporters, with small children crying with fear at what was happening in the streets around them.

Fast forward 5 years later and Nigel Farage has just taken another beverage to the face in the war on fantasy anti-fascism whilst campaigning for The Reform Party. This was once again celebrated far and wide in mainstream leftist circles. A 25 year old woman has been charged with assault but absolutely nothing has been learned.

Katie Spalding, a writer for IFLScience endorsed the assault, proclaiming that “throwing milk at fascists is ok, actually”, and describing it as “funny”. And the Deputy editor of MixMag, Megan Townsend said she would “lay her life on the line” for the woman charged with assault. They have the right to say things as dim-witted as this of course, but does anyone seriously believe these two people would work another day for their respective publications had they said exactly the same thing about a left-wing politician being assaulted? You know the answer.

And Guardian columnist Owen Jones also celebrated the assault, describing it as ‘art’:

Would the Guardian have tolerated one of its columnists celebrating the assault of a left-wing politician? Again, you know the answer.

Owen Jones is also demonstrating he has the self-awareness of a twig given he too was the victim of a politically motivated assault not so long ago. Now, I’m not a fan of Owen Jones. I think Jones and his ilk have done untold damage to the British left and I told him so many times that he blocked me on Twitter. However I still had absolutely no problem with publicly condemning the inexcusable assault he was the victim of. Just as I did when Jeremy Corbyn (someone else I loathe) was pelted with an egg. So, unlike many of my fellow lefties, I retain my principles on this score whether the people targeted are on the left or right and whether it’s fists or food.

Also, a washed-up former child actor that was in a popular wizard movie also tweeted that he would crowd-fund for the woman responsible for assaulting Farage were she to be charged with a crime:

When I tried to raise concerns in his direction about rewarding politically motivated violence, he told me to “shut the fuck up” and called me a “cunt”—such is the level of argument to be found amongst cosplaying anti-fascists high on their own supply of self-righteousness.

We also saw the organisation ‘Stand Up To Racism’ join in on the fun too:

I do wonder what principle it is that they are ‘standing’ on when they rightly challenge racially motivated assault but also cheer on politically motivated assault. And worse, Labour politician Diane Abbott is the President of ‘Stand Up To Racism’. She appears to have said precisely nothing in response to a group she is president of endorsing assault against a fellow politician.

And this really does get to the more sinister aspect of this issue—the false accusations of ‘Nazi’ or ‘fascist’ being thrown around to intentionally paint a target on the back of people simply for having political views you don’t like.

It gets the message out to your tribe that these people are fair game for assault and violence wherever they try to speak their mind—because they are ‘Nazis’ and ‘fascists’, and what could be worse than that?

But when people use labels to justify sacrificing the principle of free expression and discarding the rule of law where their political opponents are concerned, they don't seem to realise that they have just also just given the green light to their enemies to respond in kind.

As much as it may not feel great to defend freedom of expression for people you don’t like, or their right to not be assaulted, you must. Because if you don’t, the whole damn system of social order falls down. Because any justification you can conjure up for assaulting Farage can just as easily be invoked by your enemies to assault you or the people you care about. 

But since we seem to care so much about rising ‘fascism’, do these people on the left also agree that antisemites need to be assaulted on sight too? After all, we know where Jew-hatred leads when it comes to the issue of ‘fascism’. Would these people then agree that left-wing politicians such as Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn are now fair game for assault given how many people consider them to be virulent antisemites? What about people wearing keffiyehs and chanting “from the river to the sea” all over our streets?

Ah, “but they aren't antisemites!” I hear you say. And here is where we get to the very crux of the issue. Many people don't believe Nigel Farage is a ‘fascist’ either. But do you think those making claims of antisemitism do so with any less conviction than those screaming ‘fascist' at Nigel Farage? 

So, now we have to decide who becomes the arbitrator of who is genuinely a ‘fascist’, and therefore deserving of assault. Who do you trust with this responsibility given how liberally smears of fascistic behaviour are thrown around by the left and the right?

And this problem is further exemplified by the fact that Nigel Farage isn't actually a fascist. He's a right-leaning, anti-immigration national populist. And a bit of a clown. And the fact that this is more than enough for the modern left to start throwing around words like ‘Nazi’ and ‘fascist’ would make you laugh were they not so ready to dish out assault.

For all his bravado about the issue, this is clearly more than “just a milkshake” for Farage. You can see how this sort of thing effects him from this interview below:

Politicians like Farage have considerable security concerns and with actual acid attacks on the rise in the UK, there will undoubtedly be an amount of pure dread felt in the moments following an unknown liquid being splashed across his face. These assaults also serve as dress rehearsals for those with more sinister plans. It lets them know just how easily one might expect get close to political figures and how lax security generally is in preventing it.

Just watch this short clip of Labour leader Keir Starmer being approached on stage and showered with glitter. Consider how much time this individual had to do whatever the hell he wanted before security got hold of him.

All this is happening in a country that has seen two serving politicians—Jo Cox and David Amess—murdered in politically motivated terror attacks.

It’s not really milkshakes that frighten me per se. It’s the utter certainty with which my fellow leftists endorse politically motivated assault. People in the free world seem to have this cartoonish perception of historical fascism, whereby moustache twirling villains carried out atrocities simply because there was something supernaturally evil about them.

But the reality (and the problem) is that they were all too human. Drunk on righteousness and utterly convinced that they could not possibly be wrong. In their mind, their enemies were so evil that they were barely human and therefore anything was justified to stop them. And this mentality is why our aforementioned washed-up former child actor can make the following profoundly fascistic and moronic declaration whilst believing he is genuinely opposing fascism:

“We don’t have a democracy unless people who would abolish it given the chance are defeated by any means necessary” he says, in his justification for assaulting Farage.

It’s akin to saying “we must protect democracy by assaulting those engaging in the sort of democracy that we don’t like”. Because nothing validates someone’s desire to ‘protect democracy’ like advocating for the assault of politicians they disagree with.

Sean seems to be blissfully unaware that his political worldview is closer to Putin’s, Kim Jong Un’s and the supreme leader of Iran than mine is. He’s not opposing fascism, he’s embodying it—and he’s precisely the type of tribal human that would have succumbed to historical fascism, because he has no principles to temper his desire to stop people he disagrees with “by any means necessary”.

I submit that my call to uphold the liberal principles of free expression, democracy and anti-violence is still the best possible deal for everyone. Nowhere on the planet has ever devolved into a fascist hellhole because of these things. As much can’t be said for the belief that people should be stopped by “any means necessary” for saying things you don’t like however.