One egg or two?

In 2005 then cabinet minister John Prescott punched Craig Evans who had thrown an egg at him from close range.

My recollection of the broadcast pictures at the time is that it was an instinctive response. I don´t support the use of violence, but as a reaction it was understandable. The Mail at the time clearly took the side of Mr Evans.

This week more eggs were thrown in political violence. Mail´s response - it´s evidence of the country going to the dogs.

"Self-styled leader of the Luton branch of Al-Muhajiroun, Sayful Islam, denied the group was behind the attack but refused to condemn what had happened." Compare that to the quote from Evans "he wishes he had not thrown the egg and does not want to be seen as a hero."

I think those two quotes sum up the intrinsic difference. Evans expresses remorse, guilt about what he did. Whether that´s genuine or just media savvy is another matter. But what you see between Al-Muhajiroun (hopefully a vocal unrepresentative bunch) and Daily Mail readers (if the highly recommended comments are representative) can´t be described as a clash of civilisations. That would assume that either side was civilised.

PS The Mail isn´t the only culprit. Try these from the Telegraph:

Warsi
Evans