Like them or loathe them UKIP are here to stay, and they, like any other political party, should be allowed to be heard. We should never censor what parties say. It is only by allowing them a voice that they can be challenged.
So, the shutting in of Nigel Farage and his local candidate for MP, Jane Collins, in their Rotherham office is something that those who are doing it should be ashamed of. And for local Labour MP, Sarah Champion, to tweet that it is "hilarious" beggars belief.
Does she find it hilarious when politicians in other countries are barricaded in their offices by an angry mob, or is she outraged? Would she find it hilarious if the mob barricaded her in and stopped her from speaking?
It is a slippery slope when this sort of behaviour becomes acceptable and a bit of a laugh, as history tells us. We really do not want to go there.