“Thought crime has come to Britain. We knew that in principle, as wave after wave of legislation has pushed the scope of anti-terror laws from deeds and plans to words. The case of Samina Malik, the Heathrow airport worker and jihadi fantasist convicted on Thursday under the Terrorism Act, confirms it beyond reasonable doubt.”

Boyd Tonkin in the Independent, 12 November 2007

Tonkin draws attention to the existence “an inflammatory anthem crammed with sanguinary images of ‘scarlet standards’ and the ‘martyred dead’, sung by a British political conspiracy once dedicated to overturning the entire economic order of society. After a spine-chilling evocation of ‘martyrs’ who died in ideological battle, the sinister ditty (‘The Red Flag’) explains why this movement’s symbol is ‘deepest red’: ‘ere their limbs grew stiff and cold/ Their hearts’ blood dyed its every fold’. Truly chilling stuff. Surely, the leader of an organisation who sanctioned the singing of such a grotesque hymn to sacrificial death should at least have his hard drive examined by our Thought Police?”