Why on earth shouldn’t Nigel Farage visit Scotland?

You’ve got to admire Nigel Farage. Like a comedian who’s already died on stage at the Glasgow Empire, he’s put on his “optimistic” hat and chosen to return to Scotland to campaign for UKIP.

His last visit, you will recall, was memorable for his being forced to seek refuge in an Edinburgh pub from a mob of nationalists and trots shouting “SCUM!” at him as he tried to convey his message (a tad harsh, I thought. But I suppose “gentleman whose views on European integration we disagree with!” is less of a crowd pleaser).

This behaviour was dismissed as “light-hearted” by much of the Scottish media and by the protesters themselves. But in displaying such intolerance of views with which they happen to disagree, the mob presented a worrying picture of Scottish politics to the wider nation.

What the (inevitably) nationalist protesters – and much of the Scottish media – wanted to convey was the message that Farage was taking a trip to a foreign country, bearing a distinctly un-Scottish, alien message. This, of course, is utter tripe. Farage is one of Britain’s representatives in Strabourg and he was merely endeavouring to visit one part of his country where he felt his words might be listened to.

And why on earth shouldn’t he? And what does it say about a certain section of Scottish culture that anyone who defends the right of people to say controversial things is immediately placed in the same political bracket as Farage? “Perhaps you should get together for a drink,” sneered one unpleasant cybernat (is there any other kind?). Because, after all, in the New Scotland, only tolerance of the tolerable is allowed.

The notion that Scotland is the UK’s last bastion of Europhilia is palpable nonsense. Polls show the difference between support for EU membership among Scots to be within the margin of error of the metric in England. Ukip won more votes in Scotland at the last general election than the Greens did, but I doubt if Patrick Harvie (“leader”, or “spokesperson” or “co-convener” or something, of the Scottish Greens) will ever have a speech drowned out by crowds of young people claiming to be “left wing”.

Despite the approval of parts of the media, including BBC Scotland, of Farage’s treatment, for most Scots the event was a cause of embarrassment if not shame. It was also predictably self-defeating; there must have been plenty of Scots who will have watched those TV images and wondered, intrigued, what was so radical about Farage’s message that they could not be permitted to hear it. A clear win for Ukip, then, and not exactly what these young opponents of free speech had intended.

I don’t believe Farage’s message will – or should – gain much traction in Scotland; most of the space normally occupied by the “we’re not like all the main parties – vote against the Westminster establishment, etc” vote has already been successfully occupied by the SNP. But just because their electoral pickings may well be lean (and let’s just wait until next year’s European elections are out of the way before we set that conclusion in concrete), does not mean they should be denied an opportunity to put their case.

I’m glad Nigel’s visiting Scotland again. I hope he enjoys his stay. And I hope the demonstrators who have set themselves up as the authority to decide what ordinary Scots voters can and cannot hear will behave themselves. Because another performance like last time will send a very clear message about the kind of political “freedom” we can look forward to if – God help us – we ever have an independent Scotland.

Tom Harris is the Labour MP for Glasgow South