Thread by @APHClarkson

Before regurgitating what a Downing Street source aka Dominic Cummings says about mass violence, maybe various journalists could do their jobs and ask police or scholars focused on public order what the actual mobilisation potential of Left and Right is in UK society?

Journos tweeting about predictions of mass violence made by Tory politicians might also want to ponder which generational and social demographics are most active in protest and rioting in places like Hong Kong and then consider where equivalent UK milieus align in Brexit debate

Keep in mind when mentioning Maidan that the people building barricades and defeating riot police were carrying EU flags

Also keep in mind that mobilisation on the Right more often than not triggers counter-mobilisation on the Left.

When Goddard and the rest of the Tommy Robinson crowd showed up for a rally in the trade union and Irish diaspora heartland of Liverpool Bootle they almost got lynched

Demographic, cultural and ideological context of urban spaces in which protest takes place is crucial in shaping the preconditions of its success or failure.

Think of the social context of contemporary London and who will turn out in mobilisation and counter-mobilisation there

One of the oddest aspects of the last few years in a lot of UK media is how many journalists seem to have absorbed the notion that Far Right populists are hardmen willing to put up a fight while Christian Democrats, Greens, Liberals and the Left will just roll over and capitulate