THE new faces of political extremism, 21st-century style, had plenty of airtime over this past week. There was Steve Bannon on the radio, calling the fight to “take your country back” a “war” when the fader was up, and being even less pleasant when the faders came down, according to LBC’s political editor, who said the former White House chief-of-staff called him “You [expletive] liberal elite”.

Donald Trump was on TV, embarrassing the Queen, the Prime Minister ... and well everyone really, including Piers Morgan, whose sycophantic interview with the US president was a sad and sorry narcissistic exercise in how not to be a journalist.

Rupert Murdoch, through the medium of The Sun, was stirring up Brexit fever, disrespect and anti-democratic grievances with its Trump exclusive; and Nigel Farage, the ever-present, ever-malign contributor, was weaving his nasty narrative of prejudice into every corner of our lives, bolstered by sections of our media who readily give him room to administer life support to the ailing Ukip duck.

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland over the weekend, we witnessed sectarian violence reminiscent of the darker days of the Troubles – bonfires alight with hatred of the other side, shots fired and explosives hurled at the police and local communities. This was preceded by Orange Walks in Glasgow and alleged attacks on the city’s Catholic community. In England, a pro-Trump demonstration unsurprisingly turned ugly, with confrontations with the police and public and racist insults thrown at any Londoner who didn’t look like a mirror image of the protesters’ jingoistic hatred and bigotry. If you saw the photograph of the Muslim female bus driver smiling in defiance as they battered her bus with “Free Tommy Robinson” posters, or the picture of union boss Steve Hedley’s bloodied face after being attacked in a pub by these demonstrators, you’ll know the kind of people we’re dealing with here.

All this is connected, of course, that much we all realise whatever side of the political frontier we inhabit. However, some political leaders are stronger in their condemnation of it than others.

At the time of writing, Theresa May has still not spoken out about any of the horrific sectarian violence in the UK. Not a whisper. Just fawning praise for her most recent guest, a man who turns a blind eye to atrocities such as the incarceration of children and the rise of racism, spurred on by his prejudiced rhetoric and governmental policy.

I almost felt sorry for May last weekend, having to negotiate with Trump and being glad-handed by him in front of the world. But then I remembered she has utterly compromised herself through Brexit and her political decisions. Desperate to be friends with the bully in the class, she’ll do anything to secure a trade deal with the US, and, desperate to stay in power and pursue her Brexit nightmare, she chose to be propped up by the DUP, whose leader, Arlene Foster, recently paraded through the streets of Cowdenbeath to celebrate a sectarian battle in Ireland more than three centuries ago.

Beyond the farce, beyond the blind ignorance, it’s an utter disgrace. And it’s only going to get worse.

Next month it will be a full year since the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. On that day, the world watched on in horror as hordes of Nazi-saluting, white supremacists marched through the streets of this quiet collegiate town. By the end of that day, one woman had been murdered and two policemen had died in a helicopter crash. Many more were injured in violent clashes and the whole axis of the liberal Western world had shifted. And all at the hands of some “very fine people”, according to Trump.

There’s nothing “fine” about racism or murder. And every time political leaders fail to speak out against racial or sectarian violence, or fail to challenge people like Trump and their twisted logic, another stick is thrown on the bonfire. The fire grows until it’s way beyond the control of anyone, even those who started it.

It’s important to remember that while the pro-Trump/free Tommy Robinson demonstrators only numbered about 3000 in total, the anti-Trump march through London was estimated to involve more than 250,000 people, with more large marches around the whole UK, including Edinburgh and Glasgow and protests at Turnberry from the irrepressible Janey Godley among others.

But with this kind of insidious prejudice, we can’t sit back and accept safety in numbers. We have to respond strongly to the likes of Bannon and Farage every time they open their manipulating mouths, and we need our politicians to stand up to Trump, like Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon who, by leading the Glasgow Pride march on Saturday, sent a very clear message to our unwanted, uninvited guest.

It has been reported that Trump’s “ambassador at large”, Sam Brownbank, complained to the UK Ambassador to the US about Britain’s treatment of right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, who is in prison for contempt of court.

Of all the issues to pick, it’s far down the UK’s list of priorities and surely no business of the US. It’s a worrying thought that Robinson will get out of jail in less than a year from now. Can you imagine what Bannon and the far-right puppet-masters will do when Robinson is released? They’ll milk every last ounce of hatred and bitterness out of it, they’ll paint Robinson as “the backbone of Britain” as Bannon has called him, pushing him as a figurehead for their brand of populism.

There is no time to lose. Everything has changed since the EU referendum in 2016; the world is an utterly different place. Even with a crystal ball, not many of us could have seen just how much towards the far right would have risen by this point. Let’s start with challenging the media on the normalisation of these extremists’ views and allowing them so many opportunities to spread their bigotry through TV, radio and the written word without challenge or accountability.

They’ve only got one message and that message is hate. How many times do we need to hear that refrain before we cry out collectively: “Enough”?