A Decade Of Political Deceit

It is tempting sometimes to portray the Brexiters (the politicians too the media leading the Brexit campaign, non those who voted Leave) every bit bumbling fools who but are non really proficient amongst reality inward all its detail. Boris Johnson encourages that idea, especially when you lot know his truthful argue for supporting Brexit is personal ambition.

I considered writing upward a piffling fantasy presently afterward H2O was discovered on Mars, Johnson had resigned every bit Foreign Secretary too May had won a vote past times breaking pairing. I imagined the PM had convinced Johnson to captain a spaceship pose together past times the New U.K. Space Agency thus he too David Davis could sign a merchandise understanding amongst whatever lived on Mars. It had to live on hush hush thus the European Union did non endeavour too larn at that topographic point first. When Johnson expressed work concern that he mightiness fille the vote on the concluding bargain May assured him his vote would live on paired, too when he returned inward triumph the leadership would live on his. After days when the press asked where is Boris, NASA reported receiving distress calls from what seemed similar a spaceship heading inward the direction of the sun.

But spell Boris is inward it for himself, the motives of many members of the ERG are rather different. As Time Bale describes, they demand Brexit to live on able to fulfill their vision for the UK, ably described inward Britannia Unchained, written inward 2012 past times Kwasi Kwarteng, Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, Chris Skidmore too Elizabeth Truss. He calls them hyperglobalists. It is a U.K. of less welfare provision too fifty-fifty to a greater extent than ‘flexible’ labour markets, thus that U.K. firms tin compete ‘unhindered’ amongst the residual of the globe similar about sort of imagined Asian dynamo. Sort of Thatcher on steroids.

I’m non likewise interested on this occasion inward the idiocy of such a plan, but the fact that this was never on the side of whatever cherry bus. It is about other illustration of political deceit of the highest order. Their innovation is non why most people voted Leave: quite the contrary inward the illustration of many. As Tim writes:

“Does this disjunction betwixt what “the people” currently say they desire too what they supposedly demand really bother Tory hyperglobalists, except insofar every bit it prevents them, at to the lowest degree for the moment, from revealing all?

No – the argue existence that they are Leninists, inward the same agency that Margaret Thatcher, their inspiration too icon, was a Leninist. Just similar her, inward 1979, they believe they know what nosotros desire amend than nosotros exercise ourselves correct now. And but similar her, they accept a crusading vision whose details, inasmuch every bit they’ve been fully worked out, are best kept nether wraps until the fourth dimension is correct too nosotros tin live on made to realise – they promise gratefully rather than grudgingly – that at that topographic point genuinely is no alternative.”

We accept been seeing rather a lot of this Leninist deceit lately, similar to what Naomi Klein called the shock doctrine, or what John Harris describes as "the odorous whiff of the hypocrisies too deceptions that tend to come upward amongst privilege". Austerity every bit a really costly device to shrink the state, for example. And immigration targets which Cameron too Osborne knew would wound the economic scheme if they were seriously pursued, but made them all the same to attention attract social conservatives to vote Conservative. Pretending immigration was a work for the NHS or welfare payments was also a useful agency to deflect criticism over the affect of austerity.

I know about people volition response that all politicians deceive, too of course of study they exercise inward small-scale ways to sell policies that attention ‘their side’. But politicians who deceive at such a high grade because they are Leninists at optic are something less common. It is difficult to fighting that whatever of the Prime Ministers earlier Thatcher were thus willing to enshroud their truthful intent. Occasionally mayhap for sure unusual ventures: Eden, too thus Blair. But non Brown or Miliband. The SNP over the toll of Independence, certainly. But austerity, lying nigh immigration too Brexit soundless seem an monastic enjoin greater inward price of the extent of the deception: promising X to really larn an undisclosed Y.

There may live on a argue for why this total deceit is relatively new, too it has to exercise amongst how the political procedure is perceived every bit business office of neoliberalism. If you lot come across politics similar a marketplace place, policies accept to live on sold similar products, too politicians are the salesmen every bit Chris Dillow describes here. [1] So if you lot tin sell a car past times creating an ikon of what that car embodies, thus you lot tin sell a policy past times pretending it is something else. The fact that you lot exercise non accept the equivalent of the Advertising Standards Authority for political advertising but makes doing that to a greater extent than attractive.

Just await at the lack of shame inward pretending that austerity was all nigh clearing upward the mess Labour made (a claim easily refuted past times looking at the data), or that the economic scheme was rigid when it was really really weak inward 2015. But that was dwarfed past times what was to come upward amongst Brexit. Nothing was sacred inward doing whatever it took to win that vote. And when it was shown that this included overspending during the campaign, they had no shame inward spinning this every bit a mere allegation past times Remainers. Anything goes, including disrespecting our pluralist democracy, but thus they larn what they want. 

This is all related to what I called neoliberal overreach, too whether it was something nosotros could accept easily avoided or something that was jump to happen. For many neoliberal politicians too advocates their ideal economic scheme too social club is non achievable through honest campaigning, because it is non what the peachy bulk of people want. In 2016 48% of people wanted higher spending too taxes, spell less than 5% wanted lower spending too taxes. Rather than patient stance they prefer consummate deception, too crucially the ideology tin live on seen every bit endorsing that. For this reason, I am happy to add together Brexit to austerity too anti-immigration rhetoric every bit examples of in all probability inevitable neoliberal overreach.

[1] Chris Dillow suggests that i of the outset peachy neoliberals, Margaret Thatcher, did non portion this view. Perhaps her ideas were sufficiently pop - at to the lowest degree for a fourth dimension - that she didn’t demand to pretend they were something else. It would live on interesting to know if Tim Bale agrees.