The government is to introduce legislation this week that, according to Downing Street, is designed to stop such heinous tactics as “slow marching”, and will mean that police “will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts”.
As I read this story, it seemed strangely familiar. Where had I heard it before? In a history of some emerging authoritarian regime? In the playbook of Steve Bannon or his equivalent? And then I remembered the Christmas of 1973. My favourite present was The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok, and my favourite piece was on “LLAP-Goch”, a self-defence system “that requires NO INTELLIGENCE, STRENGTH or PHYSICAL courage”.
