This week in the UK we had terrorism and murder – aimed at people for no other reason than they are Jewish. And on Yom Kippur of all days.
In the UK the group most likely to face hate crimes are Jews, by a factor of 3 per capita over the next group.
They are also only 0.5% of the British population.
We need robust free speech (not incitement to immediate or direct material harm) to avoid a) government censoring opposition voices (your government of your choice may be out of power next year so it needs to apply above party politics by consistent demand of the public), and b) because truth emerges from the debris of contested narratives, eventually.
Therefore this commitment to free speech (and hence learning) is the true progressivism. Government censorship or two-tier approaches are regressive as it restricts societal learning, not just speech.
There is no place for political or terrorist violence in UK democracy.
So I support the right of protestors to protest today in London and Manchester (subject to incitement as above), but condemn their lack of decency and respect at this particular moment. They do their cause no favours.