Arrest Detain an 82 year old under the Terrorism Act for shouting “nonsense” at someone talking nonsense?

I’m not sure I can express my views on this without swearing profusely, so I’m, glad other people already have. (Legal explanation, anger and surprisingly calm disgust in turn.)

For Christ’s sake, the guy’s been a member of the party for 60 years – that amount of loyalty surely deserves a little respect? Or doesn’t it work both ways?

Had I ever been a member of the Labour party, and had I not had the bollocks to quit already over their shameless shift to the authoritarian centre right, surely witnessing their thugs assault a pensioner would be the clincher? But then again, if you’re still a member of the party you’ve either got to have an insane amount of hope, faith and patience or simply not care about all the deaths and fuck-ups Blair’s caused. If the former, you’re deluded if you think your voice is ever going to be heard, as yesterday’s events prove; if the latter, you’re an abject cunt.

Party membership is never something I can approve of at the best of times – summons up all sorts of images of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, none of which are pleasant, which is why I have never and will never join any party – but Labour party membership today I cannot even slightly understand, and especially the continued membership of old Labour supporters.

Why? How can you approve of what they’re doing? How can you still think that this is the party you used to know? How can you still cling to the hope that they might, possibly, someday swing back towards the political ground they once occupied? How can you justify continuing to give them your money to enable them to pay hulking security guards to assault octogenarians?

I simply do not get it. I can’t come up with a single logical argument for it, nor any take on current Labour policy which could in any way be described as left-wing. Can anyone justify Labour party membership any more? Can anybody justify the Labour party?

Update: Heckler returns to hero’s welcome, while meanwhile,

“The Labour Representation Committee claimed there had been intimidation of delegates, allegations of corruption of the democratic process and ‘blatant gerrymandering’ of the conference agenda.

“It alleged that emergency resolutions to the conference had been excluded for ‘spurious’ reasons, that delegates received text messages from party officials telling them which way to vote and that speeches had been ‘planted’ by party officials.

“Labour MP John McDonnell, chairman of the committee, said: ‘Enough is enough – we cannot put up with this treatment any longer.

“‘We need a thorough independent investigation into the whole New Labour culture of intimidation, suppression of dissent and the gerrymandering of conference.'”

And this from an MP hardly known for his rebellious nature – until, that is, the most recent splurge of stupid legislation on gambling, terrorism, freedom of speech, ID, immigration, public private partnerships, judicial reform, etc. etc. etc.