"Germany is uniquely shackled by its awful past. Britain is not shackled in the same way."
Is there any reason to use the word 'shackle' so much here? Wouldn't 'constrained' have worked? Just a nitpick.
But I think this is key:
"...attempts to stage rallies elsewhere in Germany have been outnumbered by far bigger counter-demonstrations."
Cook sort of qualifies this with:
"Naturally, with church and state and big business united in opposition, respectable people will be deterred from attending Pegida’s demonstrations."
Perhaps. I think a better argument would be that demonstrations in general don't really show the true level of support. People don't turn up for a number of reasons (work, childcare.....).
But I would like to think, and I see no reason to doubt their stated motives, that the counter-demonstrators are showing up because they despise racism and bigotry....not because they were somehow cajoled by state/church/business forces. It seems like a more likely explanation.
