Rising violence against politicians is an attack on democracy itself

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Seemingly random assaults in Britain and other parts of Europe are coming from left and right

Who next? Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage is hit by a milkshake as he launches his election campaign in Clacton, Britain, on 4 June 2024.Who next? Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage is hit by a milkshake as he launches his election campaign in Clacton, Britain, on 4 June 2024.he response of Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s centre-left prime minister, to being physically assaulted in a Copenhagen street was dignified and very human.

With contentious elections fast approaching in France, the UK and the US, it seems only too probable that there will be more outrages and more victims, some possibly high profile. The root causes of this phenomenon include anger at and distrust of “ruling elites”, deliberate polarisation and fearmongering, anti-migrant racism, sectarian bigotry, economic distress and digital provocations by malign state actors. Yet there is no obvious pattern.

It would be easy to blame the divisive policies and rhetoric of Germany’s surging far-right party, the Alternative for Germany , and many do. But AfD membersin 2023 than any other party, mostly from people with a leftist ideology. The Greens were the second biggest victims. The potential risks to his and other French politicians’ safety in the current climate are obvious, yet difficult to defend against. “Extreme-right violence – motivated by nationalism and authoritarianism – is on the rise in France,” warned the University of Oslo extremism expertputs his life on the line when he goes on the stump. It’s plainly dangerous, and raises basic questions about how long this style of face-to-face politics can realistically continue.

 

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