There are troubling signs of Britain becoming the new East Germany, just look at what happened earlier this week - Paul Embery

It all led, unsurprisingly, to the most repressive atmosphere, one in which the average person would, in everyday conversation, constantly be thinking one step ahead to avoid saying anything incriminating.

That sort of menacing society, in which expressing opinions that conflict with the dogma of officialdom is punished, seems to be creeping ever closer in Britain.

Thanks to an expanding web of restrictive laws, we have seen a litany of cases – too numerous to list here – in which citizens have been arrested, and sometimes convicted, for saying or doing things which, in a country that genuinely valued liberty, they would be perfectly free to say and do.

And where the law can’t quite reach the “offender”, the pernicious phenomenon of cancel culture, or the ignominy of having a ‘non-crime hate incident’ recorded against one’s name, will suffice.

All of which brings me to Claire Mackie-Brown, a Reform UK councillor on Falkirk Council.

Councillor Mackie-Brown recently found herself the subject of a police investigation following a complaint from a member of the public. The complaint had apparently been sparked by a quite extraordinary exchange between the councillor and a local TV reporter.

Speaking about concerns over the billeting of asylum seekers in local hotels, Councillor Mackie-Brown told the reporter that she was “born and bred here,” before immediately checking herself and halting the interview. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said, apologetically, to the reporter, who in turn chided her for the comment. “Do you see why people who aren’t from here, who have maybe made their home here, are annoyed when they hear an elected official say that people are ‘born and bred here’?” the reporter asked, in a supercilious tone.

After the video of the exchange went viral, Councillor Mackie-Brown revealed that Police Scotland was looking into a complaint. Citing the “born and bred” comment and other examples of alleged wrong-speak, the complainant had called for the councillor to be investigated for “hate crimes”.

Now, most sensible people will look at these events with a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment. Why did Councillor Mackie-Brown check herself? Why did the TV reporter rebuke her? And how on Earth could any person who was not completely detached from reality believe it to be “hateful” to state that one was “born and bred” in a particular place?

But to many activists on the hyper-progressive, illiberal Left, Councillor Mackie-Brown was a legitimate target. These people – open-borders globalists who loathe Reform UK or anyone who believes in the concept of strong borders or the nation state – are so sure of own moral rectitude that they simply cannot comprehend anyone might think differently. To them, “born and bred” is the equivalent of “blood and soil” – the sort of language that only migrant-hating neo-fascists would use.

The influence of this tribe at the highest levels of our public life – in politics and our institutions – has ensured that the culture of our country has fundamentally changed.

Where we once said, “I disagree with you,” we now say, “You mustn’t say that.” On certain issues, only one view is permitted, with dissenters – especially those with any sort of public profile – likely to face the destruction of their reputation or career.

The new puritans responsible for this authoritarianism are, like the old Stasi informants, quite content to see the nation’s police officers enforce their speech codes. They are certain that they are doing good. Doubtless the person who complained about Councillor Mackie-Brown was sure he or she was a laudable citizen serving some great calling.

After considering the complaint for what seemed like an unnecessarily protracted time, Police Scotland decided earlier this week that there was no case for Councillor Mackie-Brown to answer. Some will think this means everything is fine; the system worked as it should. But, of course, the investigation or arrest or oppressive media coverage in these types of case is often enough to persuade anyone else minded to express an unfashionable view to self-censor – and so it has the chilling effect desired by the puritans.

If someone had said 20 years ago that an elected councillor would have been the subject of widespread media coverage and a police investigation simply for having stated that he or she was “born and bred” in a particular place, we would not have believed it. These days, however, it doesn’t come as a shock. For that is the climate that has been created by those who believe that the expression of any opinion they dislike ought to be a police matter.

Only the most concerted campaign supported by all those who truly value freedom and liberty will defeat the self-appointed censors. And that day cannot come a moment too soon.

We must not allow Britain to become the new East Germany.