There is a saying that was once in common use in this country. One that is rarely heard now. It took on many variants but its meaning was always the same.

This saying would come from the mouths of those who saw others acting in ways most of us would consider irrational, but not illegal. Those who chose to skip down the street instead of walking. Those who chose to paint their garden sheds pink with blue polka dots. Those who chose to dress in bizarre ways and walk around in public.

The wording varied, as I said, but it was always along the lines of this:

“It’s a free country. He’s not hurting anyone, let him get on with it if he wants.”

How often have you heard that saying lately? Especially that first line. How many insist this is a free country these days? Well, let’s start with the 646 members of Parliament. For them, everything is free, so it’s understandable that they consider this a free country. They neither know nor care what life is like for the rest of us.

Then there are the Righteous. For them, life is free. For those they patronise and intimidate, it certainly is not. Oh, those pets of the Righteous get their benefits but are they free to do what they want with their own lives?

Could they, for example, dress up as Guy Fawkes and wander along the streets of London, hearing nothing more than a chuckle and a ‘They aren’t bothering anyone, so let them be’ from passersby? Could they?

Old Holborn believed that this was not so. He believed that anyone walking around Parliament Square in London risked being stopped and potentially arrested by the police. Many said ‘Don’t be silly. You’ll just be ignored. It’s a waste of time’.

Well, today he and a few others did it. They were stopped and searched and threatened with arrest, although not (as far as I know) actually arrested. This was not a protest march. This was not a demonstration. Nobody carried a placard. Nobody shouted a slogan. Nobody handed out leaflets. Nobody said or did anything other than walk the streets in costume.

To stage a demonstration or protest in that part of London requires the permission of the authorities. Just like in Beijing. OH was walking, nothing more. Unfortunately it was not possible to watch on the webcam in Parliament Square because it was taken out of service for ‘operational reasons’. No, it wasn’t. That overlay was not real – as Guthrum pointed out, the webcam image was still visible if you clicked on ‘save image’. The camera was working. The ‘out of order’ sign was not true. The camera was, in fact, zoomed in very nicely on the gates of Parliament.

Now those Righteous who attempted to dismiss and denigrate the whole episode have turned to such things as ‘There were only ten’. Good thing too. You can see the authorities’ response to ten people walking, not protesting, on Guido Fawkes’ blog. Imagine the response if there had been a hundred, or a thousand. Do you really, truly believe that riot shields, rooftop snipers and tear gas would not have figured in that response? Even if your instant reaction is ‘Don’t be silly, Leg-iron’, just pause and think for a moment and consider once again the reaction to ten people out for a quiet walk.

Another Righteous attack is ‘Oh, it was only LPUK trying to raise their image’. But none of the walkers had ID. None of the walkers claimed membership of anything. As far as those police and pseudoplods were concerned, they were ordinary members of the public with no political affiliation. This walk was not organised by LPUK. This was not organised at all. It was a note on a blog, placed by Old Holborn himself, accompanied by an invitation to anyone who wanted to join him on his walk.

So it is not the case, as the Righteous and some in the media will claim, that the police dispersed a protest organised by a small political party. The police, in fact, stopped, searched and threatened with arrest ten ordinary people for no other reason than they were wearing fancy dress.

This action was not in response to a rally, march or protest. This response applies to anyone. It applies to you. I would suggest you think very carefully about attending a fancy dress party or sending your children out trick-or-treating in future.

The sending of copies of 1984 to every MP was organised by LPUK, but it was not confined to their membership. I sent one. I am not a member. Many non-members sent copies too. In this case, the action is attributable to LPUK but it is not confined to that party. Many others who agree with this action but who are not politically affiliated took part in it.

The reaction to that is yet to come. Much of it will follow the format shown by Tom Harris, I am sure. Some of it will be far harsher.

LPUK is spearheading this action, and being laughed at by the lackeys of the Righteous. As are those of us who take part because we agree that the country is no longer the place where we grew up. Let them laugh. Let them sneer and scorn and scoff. It’s all they ever do.

Scoff along with them, if you wish. The walk, and the books, are small things. They might or might not result in some small hindrance to the total-control state our government is building. They will not stop it, but these small actions are something. They are a start. Old Holborn’s walk achieved its objective. It proved that we have no freedom to walk as we please. The message behind the book-sending might get through to one MP. If it does, that objective is achieved also.

When Government control over every aspect of our lives is complete, when all dissent is outlawed, when it is too late to fight back, what will you say to those who ask ‘What did you do to stop it? Anything? Even one small thing?’

Assuming, of course, it is still legal to ask that question by then.