Most topics in the news these days make me too afraid to pass comment on. If I take a side on a government policy some will be aggressive online because my take is too right or left wing. If I mention the return to Imperial measures some people will tell me I’m drowning in colonial privilege while others are also attacking me for being anti-Brexit.

Outrage is our go-to emotion when we hear someone we disagree with, which is strange because that’s a moment that doesn’t need emotion. You can disagree with someone without having to attack that person.

That is why I am proceeding carefully when I talk about Insulate Britain. If I do any jokes about the protest group gluing themselves to the road surface (“and I thought I was stuck in traffic”) some people will piously tell me it’s a serious issue and start quoting pH levels in the ocean. If I say anything in favour trying to save the only planet we can live on there’ll be angry posts quoting someone’s blog disproving climate change.

The irony is the outrage is the reason these protests are working.

The more righteous the indignation of the radio host or columnist the more coverage it gets. There’s no point debating the issue of whether it is fair to hold up average people on their way into work because that is the reason to do it.

A protest outside Number 10 Downing Street might get a small mention inside the newspapers a few pages before a tempting sudoku but holding people up on their way into work moves this to the front page.

The successful PR recipe was stumbled upon by Extinction Rebellion and it is no wonder others are copying it. There is probably an ad agency in London’s Soho that’s trying to pitch a similar idea to their client. “We can get your cereal brand on everyone’s lips. How do you feel about blockading a port?”

I worry about what happens next. We will get used to the outrage and they’ll have to do things that ping our moral upset progressively more. They may start delaying school buses, that would make us angry. Or they may swap the signs that are put out when your local parkrun takes place. Imagine your anger when you accidentally did more than 5k.

I think best thing they could do, if they hold up traffic again, is to let anyone with a hybrid car go through. The right-wing radio hosts would fume.

In other news, I got a new car recently. You’ll never guess what kind it is.