DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Indulge bigotry and democracy crumbles By Daily Mail Comment Published: 00:12, 9 May 2024 | Updated: 01:04, 9 May 2024 e-mail 2 View comments In his counter-cultural opus Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , American journalist Hunter S Thompson observed: 'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.' He was saying that at times of uncertainty and weak leadership, eccentric minorities move in to fill the vacuum. When normality breaks down, the abnormal can become mainstream.
There was plenty of evidence of this phenomenon in last week's local elections , as scores of candidates driven by events in the Middle East rather than middle England won council seats. As the victors shouted Allahu Akbar, denounced Israel and waved Palestinian banners in town halls around the country, it was clear sectarianism has come back to haunt British politics. We know from bitter experience in Northern Ireland and elsewhere how dangerous and corrosive that can be, yet none of the major parties on the Left has uttered so much as a peep of concern.
Fury grows over the Green Party's refusal to suspend under-fire Leeds city councillor Mothin Ali Indeed, the Green Party has ushered anti-Zionism and thinly veiled anti-Semitism into its ranks. Some of the most extreme local candidates stood on its ticket and have not been disciplined. As usual, the Liberal Democrats have nothing to say, while Sir Keir Starmer pledges to 'win back the trust' of pro-Palestine voters.
This is a dangerous .
