It shows how low we’ve sunk in this country, and how much free speech is under attack, that politicians have to employ bodyguards to protect them from the voters. None more so than Nigel Farage, who during the election was yet again assaulted, this time by Victoria Thomas Bowen. Bowen, who received her sentence this morning, took it upon herself to throw a milkshake over him for no other reason than she disagreed with his politics.

Some would like her to be sent to prison. Well, if I thought Britain’s prisons were any good at reforming people, I might understand. But they’re not. They do the opposite. In any case, just because Bowen has avoided the overkill of a prison cell, she’s still suffered for her violent stupidity. She now has a criminal record involving a suspended jail sentence, which will cause all sorts of problems for her in daily life. She must pay hundreds of pounds in costs and carry out three solid weeks of unpaid community work, on top of a further couple of weeks of rehabilitation training. Good. She deserves it all.

And those penalties are merely what the State has imposed. She’s also received “multiple threats” by members of the public (which cannot be condoned), has had her photo splashed across news sites (the obvious price of doing what she did) and has to put up with columnists like me writing columns like this (ditto).

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“now if he was a muslim MP ?” 13

“She was allowed to wear her Palestine flag badge in court. Looks like Judge Tan …” 13

“Leftie justice means anyone can do whatever they want to MPs. Just encouraging anarchy.” 11

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I reckon she’s been suitably punished. And let’s hope that it all sends out a stark signal to any other virtue-signalling, anti-free-speech lefty tempted to climb onto some mythical moral high ground by assaulting people purely because they don’t like their politics.

Because this isn’t just about protecting politicians – crucial though that is after the murder of two MPs in recent years. And it isn’t just about punishing stupid, nasty, assault. Far more importantly, it strikes a blow against the alarming acceptance, particularly on the shouty, smug Left, that political opponents must be silenced, through no-platforming, cancellation or, in cases like this, violence.

I’ve cited before a horrifying statistic published in research by The Higher Education Policy Institute: as many as 11% of students believe that Conservative Party politicians and representatives should be banned from speaking at higher education institutions. Let that sink in. And if more than a tenth of students feel that about Conservatives

Alright, politics can be pretty brutal. Nobody should go into it expecting an easy ride. Even columnists need to develop a thick skin. But we must at all costs defend people’s right to speak their own mind without threats, intimidation or violence. There are many, like me, who struggle to think of anything Keir Starmer ever says with which we agree. But if he doesn’t have a right to say it without fearing that some nutter will throw beer all over him, or worse, then we can wave goodbye to the whole idea of a free, democratic society.

As for Bowen, her lawyer said this morning that her client now recognises the gravity of her crime and the impact of her actions, and hopes that she can put the whole thing behind her and move on. Maybe I’m too soft, but I trust she’ll get her wish. But she should thank her lucky stars that most people on the Right of politics believe in justice and not cancellation.