Ugliness of hard-left

The harassment of Jacob Rees-mogg’s family by Class War activists was totally unacceptable. Mr Rees-mogg reacted with his typically admirable calm. “I’m in public life,” he said, “not everybody is going to like me.” But the target this time was not only a politician but his wife, four of their children and, just as seriously, his children’s nanny – a private citizen who has a right to go about unmolested.

This was a prime example of the ugliness of parts of the hard-left, who mix righteousness with hate. Corbynites will insist that protester Ian Bone isn’t affiliated with the Labour Party, but rhetoric from mainstream figures arguably validates his actions. John Mcdonnell famously said: “I want to be in a situation where no Tory MP… can travel anywhere… without being challenged by direct action.” And even Justin Welby’s claim that the gig economy, associated with Conservative economic policy, is an “ancient evil” must be grist to the anarchists’ mill. The cleric has condemned the protest.

Politicians on the Left need to think more sensitively about the human beings behind the rhetoric; protesters need to respect privacy and family life. And the police should do their job. Perhaps the strangest thing about this scene was that the police stood between the family and the protesters, yet did not intervene. Mr Rees-mogg felt this was right – again, his stoicism does him credit.

But the affair exposes a double standard. This week, South Yorkshire Police urged people to report “non-crime hate incidents”. Mr Rees-mogg has not only been heckled but his home was vandalised earlier this year. It feels increasingly as if the campaign against hate does not extend to defending philosophical conservatives.