Shelley’s broader intention in his magnificent poem The Masque of Anarchy, written in response to the Peterloo massacre, is not always clear. At times he seems to be calling for violent revolution; at others, the message sounds more like peaceful protest against the triumvirate of oppression: “God, and King, and Law”.
What he definitely did not mean was the kind of vicious xenophobia and casual disregard for basic human rights espoused by Suella Braverman in her conference speech on Tuesday (Suella Braverman claims ‘hurricane’ of mass migration coming to UK, 3 October).
