We need the sound and fury of hustings

Pre-election hustings are a staple of democratic life. Raucous, boisterous affairs, candidates should be under no illusion what awaits them. And yet the offering at Canterbury Christ Church University began as if politeness and quiet was order of the with the ejection of Conservative Neil Baker for twice interrupting Labour’s Rosie Duffield.

His outbursts were intemperate. But the fact is that the Conservative candidate Sir Julian Brazier faced sustained barracking so much so that it was impossible to hear him at points.

The claim by some that the heckling directed at him was somehow different to that of Cllr Baker’s is nonsense.

No one is suggesting that audience members – most of whom already support one or other of the parties standing – hold their tongues. What we are suggesting is that hustings debates are played out upon a level playing field.

Politicians spend too much time among people with like minds and hustings expose them to the sound and the fury of their opponents. This cannot be lost.

The murders of Lin and Megan Russell continue to hold a dark fascination among the public not least for the fact that man judged responsible appears to have been convicted on the basis of flimsy evidence.

While the BBC documentary reminds us of this, we should remind ourselves that away from poring over the minutiae of the case, the Chillenden murders are one of the most evil acts ever perpetrated in the United Kingdom.

They left a mother and a daughter dead and a daughter and a father and daughter bearing the physical and mental scars forever.

No matter what investigators turn up in the future, this will never change.