I’M GOING to propose a wrestling match, to see if extremists who are accustomed to venting their spleen on social media, can fair any better leaping around in the ring, wearing multicoloured jump suits.

In the blue corner I would put the Bicester hairdresser whose response to the appalling terror attacks in Paris was to ban Muslims from having their hair cut in her shop. Rather than cause outrage, this may have been a source of relief to the very few affected customers.

Given her talent for fanatical outbursts, she is possibly the last person on earth anyone, of any religion, should trust with a pair of scissors, and their head.

The story made newspapers as far afield as New Zealand and Nigeria. Not really putting “her country first” as she claimed, but representing us at our worst.

And in the red corner I would situate one of the members of the hardcore loony left who’ve been ranting away on Twitter this week, much as they have been ranting among themselves for years, with no-one paying attention.

The difference now is that this week, poisonous rants sent to Labour MPs who voted in favour of Syria air strikes, have received huge exposure. Exposure which has drowned out all reasoning voices of protest, and undermined the sustained, ongoing efforts of anyone who continues to express opposition.

It’s hard to process the idea that, two generations ago, we fought a war against fascism, only to have ended up in a society in which some individuals are so consumed by vitriolic hatred that it baffles. Some of them claim to be hairdressers. Others, members of the left wing.

Last Wednesday, there was a tweet denouncing the prime minister as part of a “Zionist paedophile death cult.” Another tweet threatened a Labour MP by urging “a final solution to purge Blairite scum” and placed the words “tick tock” next to her name in imitation of a bomb. The person who sent it claims to be anti-fascist, but in the next breath recommends a holocaust. Whatever happened to cheery left-wingers, singing “The Internationale” over the campfire, while swigging real ale from Leon Trostky beer mugs?

So a wrestling match. Spill out that anger. And given the strong principles some of you have, I wouldn’t expect you to raise a finger in self-defence.

Personally I’m against the air strikes in Syria. Continued opposition doesn’t become any easier, however, when the news is dominated by crackpots who think the only answer is to exterminate the people who have been democratically elected to represent you.

My sympathies are less with the MPs, rather with the brave RAF personnel who now have such a dangerous mission to fulfil.