Citizens United E-Book

Henry McLeish

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 259

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The early years of the 21st century have erupted into a spectacular period of seismic political unrest which challenges our sense of purpose, shreds our certainties, and questions our path to progress. Volatile and angry citizens are contesting social democracy and progressive politics. It is a wake-up call to those who believe that humans are capable of achieving much higher levels of social, economic, political and cultural wellbeing. The future of Scotland is at a crossroads as Brexit creates more complexity and confusion. The SNP has lost momentum and a window of opportunity has emerged for a wider and deeper debate about the current political situation both in Scotland and the UK. What's the matter with democracy in Britain and how can we make citizenship meaningful in such turbulent times? How is populism changing how we view politics, political parties and democracy? Europe is our future - how can we stay in the EU? How can we address the anger, mistrust and fear currently dominating the public discourse and bitterly dividing Britain? What is Scotland's future role within the UK? How do we develop a more inspired politics where the citizen is valued and taken seriously? This book examines the most pressing issues facing us today in the context of the political and constitutional upheaval that is coursing throughout Western democracies. The shock politics of Trump and Brexit demonstrate that the political landscape has changed and we face an uncertain future. Henry McLeish offers a new approach to get us out of the mess we're in.

Leseprobe

RT HON HENRY MCLEISHbegan his political career as an elected member in local government in 1974, and was leader of Fife Regional Council for five years. In 1987 he was elected as a member of the UK Parliament and acted as Minister for Devolution and Home Affairs in the Labour Government from 1997 to 1999. In the first Scottish Parliament he was Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 1999, and in 2000 he became First Minister of Scotland until 2001. Retiring from politics in 2003, he is now an adviser, consultant, writer, author and broadcaster and lectures in the USA and elsewhere on the European Union and politics. He chaired the Scottish Prisons Commission, which produced a report into sentencing and the criminal justice system entitled ‘Scotland’s Choice’. In 2010 he conducted a major report on the state of football in Scotland, which had been commissioned by the Scottish Football Association, and chaired a commission into sport requested by the Scottish Government. He is now an honorary professor at Edinburgh University.

Citizens United Taking Back Control in Turbulent Times

HENRY MCLEISH

First published 2017

ISBN: 978-1-910021-78-1 eISBN: 978-1-912387-03-8

The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.

© Henry McLeish 2017

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1: Setting the Scene Amidst Turbulent Politics

Early Politics and Enduring Values: Pits, Pulpit, Pitches and Politics

Social Democracy in Crisis: The Rise of Populism and the Political Right

Our Democracy Is Weak and Ineffective

2: The New Political Landscape

Towards a New Order: Building a New Consensus For Progressives

Transforming Politics

Democracy at Risk

The Citizen

The EU Referendum Campaign

Tory Obsession

The Broader Perspective

The Politics of Anger

Helping to Shape Our Thinking and Ideas

Britain, Brexit and Scotland: New Ideas

My Personal Political Journey

3: Brexit, a Cause Without a Case. Why Did It Happen?

The Rust Belt Analysis, Trump and Brexit

The Extreme Right in British Conservative Politics

What's the Matter With Social Democracy?

Britain is Changing

Dealing with Democracy

Absolute Sovereignty and the Primacy of our Laws

The European Courts

The Lies, Fake and Fraudulent News

Law Making

Immigration and Borders

Opt-Outs

The Trade Myth

Immigration and Trade

Confronting the Tories

Britain Not a Team Player

4: Identity – Sentiment, Nostalgia, Emotion and the Lure of Greatness

Embracing the Past

Sentiment and Emotion

Respect the People

5: Populism: Discredited Ideas in New Garb

EU Becomes the Problem

US Populism

The US As Our Friend and Saviour

6: Requiem For a Nightmare Brexit

7: The EU, a Case With a Cause: Going in a Different Direction

45 Years of Success

No Longer Rules the Waves

The Process of Brexit

Politics of Yesterday

Threat to Britain

Searching for a Role

Threat to the Union and Scotland’s Role In It

Locked into the Past

Churchill and Thatcher: Identity and Ambivalence

John Major’s Biography

Rethinking Our Role in Europe

Attacking Immigrants

The EU is the Role We Are Looking For

8: Scotland at a Crossroads

9: Scotland – the Story So Far

Our Changing World

Facing the Future

Creed and Constitution

Time for Action

10: The Way Ahead

References

Preface

Citizens United: Taking Back Control in Turbulent Times was inspired by five concerns. First, a lifetime commitment to the enduring principles of the Labour party, whose fortunes have dipped in recent times. Second, a fear that our politics, democracy and governance were at risk, with darker forces trying to supplant progressive politics with populism, a market philosophy and a drift to the right. Third, the state of a declining Britain and the consequences for Scotland and the other nations as England starts to stir awkwardly from its slumber. Fourth, the idea that people don’t matter too much in our politics, apart from being asked to vote every few years; that they are lauded as consumers but rarely recognised as citizens, a much more noble status. Fifth, more dramatically and worryingly, the momentous political year of 2016, the election of Trump in the US and the calamitous Brexit decision in the UK.

Trump and Brexit make no sense. It was like experiencing two bereavements where the cycle of grief kicks in and recovery is hindered by obsessing over the question: How did this happen?

This book’s preparation was informed by numerous discussions with friends and colleagues in the US – in Denver, Tulsa, San Antonio, Tampa, New York and Washington, dc – as well as in London and Edinburgh.

Brexit stands out because of the direct threat it poses to Britain but also because of the remarkable step back in time delivered by the poisonous and reckless Leave campaign, celebrated by some as progress. For me, Brexit was a wake-up call.

The achievements of progressive politics were at risk.

Our politics need a radical transformation. There was nothing inevitable about the Trump-Brexit political shocks, but there is an urgency required in rethinking where we are as democrats, socialists and liberals in a world of social change, political upheaval, massive inequality and the cult of the ‘tough guy’ personality.

This book argues that this political upheaval is not just an unforeseen bump in the road; Trump and Brexit are earthquakes whose tremors are being felt throughout western democracies. Our guiding spirit in all of this must be the fact that both Trump and Brexit are consequences of something, not causes, and that is why the idea of drilling deeper and finding a new role for the citizen becomes so important: 63 million people voted for Trump and 17.4 million people voted for Brexit. These are big numbers, whose importance cannot be wished away.

Citizens United: Taking Back Control in Turbulent Times, is a warning about the need for change and an invitation to join the debate about what happens next. We must remain optimistic about the ability of humans to evolve and adapt. This book asks: How do we develop a more inspired politics where the citizen is valued and taken seriously?

Introduction

BRITAIN’S VOTE TOleave the European Union and the election of President Trump have sent shock waves through the democracies of Western Europe and have emboldened far right parties in Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands. However, both France and the Netherlands have rejected far right politics with their respective elections of Emanuel Macron and Mark Rutte.

The striking and worrying similarities between the Trump and Brexit campaigns are a chilling reminder of how old ideas are being repackaged for modern times. History tells us about nationalism, however economic it is dressed up to be – authoritarianism, nativism, racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance (especially in the form of Islam) – and the consequences for countries and continents.

The political and press frenzy over Prime Minister Theresa May’s future has tended to distract from the reality that a significant section of the Conservative party has embraced a cheap patriotism that is the enemy of what a modern Britain should be striving for. Personalities may change, but the right of the Conservative party doesn’t. We ignore this basic fact at our peril.

Brexit is about the identity crisis that Britain has grappled with for over70years, and the question of Britain’s role in the modern world, or the lack of one. It is about the failure of the right of the Conservative party and theUKIndependence Party (UKIP) leadership to remove the shackles of the past and put behind them the nostalgia, sentiment and delusional mindset that refuses to accept that Britain no longer rules the waves or controls an empire and does not have a ‘special’ relationship with the United States – while also failing to see the significance continental Europe has for Britain in the21st century.

The story on offer for Brexit, and for Trump, argues that all our ills are the fault of migrants, refugees, Muslims and Eastern European benefits tourists, who are simultaneously stealing all our jobs. In Britain, the story is further adorned by a barely concealed hostility to foreigners, especially the French and Germans, the supposed ringleaders in theEU’s drive towards a federal state.

The story is rounded off with a generous helping of insidious nationalism (mainly English), a dash of isolationism and a hint of racism to come if Brexit succeeds.

These cheap patriots leading Brexit are consumed with a misplaced sense of history and are diminishing Britain in the eyes of the world.

Much of the developed world is experiencing political upheaval and in some cases radical political change. While there may be little agreement on where this is heading, there is compelling evidence about some of the causes: a deep disillusionment and anger with traditional politics; electorates freed from the patterns of previous voting; and growing anxieties about the inability of politicians and political parties to tackle the problems and challenges of our changing world. In this fragile anti-austerity environment, new parties are emerging and minority parties are gaining strength and enjoying varying degrees of success and popularity.

These are the politics of a turbulent, disgruntled and restless world. TheEU, one of the most important political projects in history, faces threats, such as terrorism, migrants and narrow nationalism, that are reshaping the narrative.

We live in troubled times. In the wake of a remarkable political year, the winds of political change sweeping through western democracies have intensified, gaining momentum in2017and posing new challenges to the politics of social democracy and international solidarity.

Political certainties are being shredded with no end in sight.

It is of deep concern that63million people voted for Trump and17.4million people voted for Brexit. Trump’s victory, exploiting Rust Belt resentment and racism in theUS,is of crucial political significance: his authoritarianism threatens to destabilise the world order.

President Trump’s tweets his support of the break-up of theEU, a view shared by Marie Le Pen of the National Front (who lost the election in France), the Alt-Right party in Germany and the far right Geert Wilders heading upNEXITin the Netherlands (who also lost the election). Does Theresa May want to encourage the extremes of Europe’s political right alongside Trump, and embrace them as new political allies? This is the ‘new’ populism of the right.

TheEUreferendum campaign was a sad but spectacular reminder of the fragile, volatile and uncertain nature of our democracy and politics. The shallowness of our democracy has been laid bare. This campaign was a damning indictment of what is wrong in Britain and goes to the core of our political turmoil.

TheUKis not alone in facing these challenges. Throughout Europe and theUS, profound social, economic, demographic and technological changes are taking place, holding out the prospect of epic consequences for our politics, constitutional structures, democracies and governance. For some, this offers an overdue shake-up of traditional political and establishment elites and the chance to talk about making everything ‘great’ again, taking our country back and making ‘immigration’ the real concern. For others, however, there are concerns about a retreat into a darker place where respect for tolerance, difference, inclusion, internationalism and multiculturalism is replaced by authoritarianism, populism, isolationism and a trickle-down form of racism and nationalism. A new battle of ideas is certainly under way but with little consensus as to where we might end up. To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Hamlet, something is rotten in the state of Britain.

This book attempts to find out what is going on and to work out why our governance, democracy and politics are at risk. Its title is based on Political Action Committee (PAC), a lobbying and major funding group in theUS, founded in1988to promote corporate interests, socially conservative causes and candidates who support ‘limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families and national sovereignty and security’. These superPACs act as shadow political parties, accept unlimited donations from billionaire corporations and use the money to buy advertising, most of it negative and of the extreme right. ThisPAC, called Citizens United, also won a now infamous victory in theUSSupreme Court where they argued a case on the legal concept of ‘corporate personhood’, so that corporations could receive the same protections as individuals. This opened the floodgates to corporations building power over the political process, massively corrupting the already fragile democracy in theUSand intensifying the marketisation of politics by spending obscene levels of finance.

This power came at the expense of people and is a symptom of the longstanding threat posed toUSdemocracy by the rich and powerful on the right ofUSpolitics. TheUSSupreme Court, the most political court in any western democracy, changed how money could be spent in elections in what is widely regarded as the most regressive piece of legislation in post-war America and a major assault on the rights of the people that confirms the triumph of the market over democracy. This book is intended as a reminder of the power of money and the market in our democracies. It expresses the alternative view that citizens, not corporations or companies, should decide who governs. It makes a plea for the reinvention of our politics, the strengthening of our democracy through effective and responsive governance based on an enhanced and respected role for the citizen. The election of Donald Trump and the arrival of Brexit have added urgency to this idea. Our politics, democracy and governance are holding Britain back.

1

Setting the Scene Amidst Turbulent Politics

THE WINDS OFpolitical change are blowing through western democracies. The infamous spirit of recent political times is a reminder of the darker political days we thought had gone forever. It is a wake-up call to progressives who believe that humans are capable of achieving much higher levels of social, economic, political and cultural wellbeing. As Naomi Klein says in her new book,No is Not Enough: Defeating the New Shock Politics, ‘Trump, as extreme as he is, is less an aberration than a logical conclusion – a pastiche of pretty much all the worst and most dangerous trends of the past half century’.

The early years of the21st century have erupted into a spectacular period of seismic political unrest which challenges our sense of purpose, shreds our certainties, and questions our path to progress in the post-war era. Volatile and angry electors are contesting social democracy and progressive politics. Populism, the rise of the right and the angry backlash of ‘left behinds’ are dominating politics at a time of unprecedented and accelerating change in every dimension of society.

My argument is that there is something profoundly wrong with our politics, democracy and governance that is impacting on the way we live and how we organise our society. This period of political turmoil demands a positive and progressive response and requires us to dig deeper to find out what populism means and how this is changing our politics.

I believe that the decision to leave theEUwas a mistake, and we must examine why this happened and what the catastrophic consequences are likely to be. There is a need to contest, derail and ultimately defeat this act of collective self-harm, which has no benefits for Britain and is tearing the country, government and politics apart. As this nightmare engulfs us, countless important political issues are being cast aside – climate change, inequality, education, older people, homelessness and housing conditions (especially after the Grenfell tragedy in London), while Westminster gets down to work on seven new Bills, over an extended two-year period, to pave the way for Britain to leave theEU.

This makes no sense. Outside this country, people believe we have taken leave of our senses. Enough is enough. A new campaign is needed to make Britain sane again and win theEUback for Britain.

The future of Scotland is bigger than nationalism, populism or theSNP. I want to see Labour engage, interact with a wider audience and argue for federalism, acknowledging that the constitutional question will not go away and accepting the simple truth that if theSNPdidn’t exist, we would still need a radical shake-up of the structure of theUKand a reassessment of Scotland’s role in it.

Over the last decade, Scotland has lacked choice because of the dominance of theSNP, the refusal of Labour to offer a viable and sustainable alternative and the intense disinterest of Westminster, which may ultimately determine the destiny of Scotland. Whether Scotland becomes independent is still a very live question. Despite theSNP’smomentum slowing, the stacking up of problems for the Scottish Government and party discipline being so rigid are preventing any debates on issues and new ideas. There now exists a set of factors which could change the dynamic of when a second independence referendum might take place and present Scots with a different choice. Brexit, which has overwhelmed and distracted everyone, has the potential to be a total game changer. With none of the other parties offering a convincing constitutional alternative, the actual reality of leaving theEU– and the devastating impact on Scotland if that happens – will change the parameters of the economic case for independence.

The behaviour of the present Tory government might be enough to reignite the Scotland question. There is no settled will of the Scottish people and the clear question thrown up by the Brexit fiasco is, what would constitute one? The lessons of theEUreferendum should be ringing in our ears. Delivering the destiny of a nation is no easy task. There must be a much wider debate which transcends the tribal politics that characterise Scotland today. Old unionism does not begin to rise to the challenges of an aspirational Scotland or the circumstances of a bitterly divided and declining Union. So, the battle will be between a federal structure or independence. Independence is up and running. Federalism is barely at the starting gate. This is the challenge for Labour. Within the context of Westminster’s proven inability to reform itself over centuries, can federalism move from being a theoretical but inspirational option, to a runner as a constitutional future for Scotland? The odds on this happening are long, but the fact that so many Scots remain unconvinced by independence, after a decade ofSNPdominance, suggests there is a future for a new idea.

‘What’s the matter with theUK?’ is a valid question that needs answering as its post-war decline continues, bitter divisions are reinforced and a dangerous, delusional and sentimental embrace of the past threatens its stability, undermining any sense of solidarity and putting at risk the existence of the Union in its present form.

The divisive, dysfunctional two-party politics of theUSrequires urgent treatment as the marketisation ofUSpolitics expands. Trump has only made matters worse. The Pledge of Allegiance is likely to see ‘one nation under God’ replaced with ‘one nation under the market’ and the Gettysburg address adapted to read ‘for, by and of the lobbyists’.

The lack of a written constitution for theUKempowers Westminster at the expense of the people, starves the nations of theUKany real power, encourages political tribalism, perpetuates the myth of absolute sovereignty, weakens and devalues our democracy and undermines effective governance.

The future of our politics and democracy require us to do more than defeat Trump and Brexit, confront right wing populism and rebuild a progressive centre-left agenda. We need to address fundamental questions of how money and market involvement are damaging and distorting our democracy. We need to achieve a healthy fit between market capitalism and democracy and work towards re-establishing the idea of the common good.

We need, above all else, to create a new vision of the ‘citizen’, where consumers and consumerism give way to citizens and citizenship, and where the qualities of the new citizen give rise to a more active and mature democracy, a deeper form of politics and eventually more representative and collaborative governance. Living by the mantras that ‘greed is good’ and ‘financial wealth is worth’ results in people serving money instead of the opposite, and this distracts us from more important issues.

Early Politics and Enduring Values: Pits, Pulpit, Pitches and Politics

The early years, it was so easy then. The building blocks of a progressive narrative were just part of life and living. The turbulent and troubled politics of the early21st century are in sharp contrast to my early experiences in the mining community of Methil, Fife in the1950s and ’60s. Pits, Pitches, Pulpit, and Politics influenced and helped shape my life. Mining communities were tough but honest places, immersed in the values of solidarity, social justice, the common good, fairness and a broader humanity: the values that some people would wish us to give up on. This is not just a walk down memory lane, indulging in the sentiment or nostalgia of a bygone era where, viewed through the prism of the unprecedented political upheavals of today, life seemed to be kinder, more thoughtful, and compassionate.

These insights, into the social, political, and economic conditions of a Fife mining community have so much to teach us about fairness, respect for others and the ideas of community and social coherence. Football, politics, mining and the voice of the church were very much part of the community, strengthening the social fabric, reinforcing enduring civic values and constantly asserting the dignity of people. In a world of bewildering political change, it is worth remembering that there are values, ethics and principles that have no need to change. In one way or another, this was the Labour party at work. Labour and the community were inextricably linked with mutual respect, only the Communist party providing political opposition. The public was intimately involved in politics. Labour politics with its ‘socialist Sunday schools’ was identified with the church. Evangelical Christians, the Trades Unions, the Co-operative Movement and a multitude of other organisations, including football clubs, contributed to a sense of community, class consciousness and the idea of the common good. There is much to learn from the politics of the past as we seek new ways today of building better futures.

My family were deeply involved in the Labour party and the various organisations that dominated daily life.

The Glenrothes seat, as it is now named – my old parliamentary constituency – was a red stronghold for80years, including a CommunistMP,Willie Gallagher, from1935to1951. The year of the100th anniversary of the death of Keir Hardie would have been a good year to carry on this tradition, but like every other Labour seat in Scotland, bar one, it fell to theSNPon7May2015.

Born and brought up in the Methil area, knocking doors in election campaigns was for me like a walk down memory lane. My30years in elected politics, including my14years at Westminster, are all linked to this parliamentary seat. My father and grandfather were miners at the nearby Wellesley Colliery. My mother worked at the Co-op store in an area where the ‘divi’ (the Co-op dividend) was the real currency. She later became Labour party branch secretary in nearby Kennoway. My grandparents lived near Keir Hardie Street in Methil. My grandmother was a member of the Labour party and the Co-op party for over60years and worked alongside my grandfather in the soup kitchens in the1926miner’s strike. Like myself, my grandfather played for the local football team, East Fife, whose old stadium was literally along the street. After returning from the First World War, shocked and traumatised by his experiences, he became an evangelical Christian. He talked a lot about the common good; the fact that after1900working people were represented in Parliament; and that the private mines in which he worked were taken into public ownership and safety regulations were introduced. The trauma of the First World War and the story of trenches full of dead bodies made the idea of a decent life for everyone so important. His Christian faith was always founded on the poor, the vulnerable and the ideas of compassion and solidarity. Are these values any less relevant today? Why have they lost their significance in modern times?

Born a few hundred yards from Keir Hardie Street, it was difficult not to inherit a sense of real belonging and become absorbed by political history and family ties. We live in different times but there is still a powerful and enduring set of values, principles and ethics that can be harnessed to improve the lives of people, provide the soul of a new progressive politics and create a mood for radical change.

The powerful community forces at work in Methil were the same forces which created Labour party in1900: trades unionism, evangelical Christianity, the Independent Labour party and the Co-op movement. It espoused the cause of working people – the common good, tackling inequality, creating a fair and just society and defending people in the workplace.

Labour was built on a broad coalition of interests. The world has changed, and102years after Keir Hardie’s death, there is much for us to reflect upon. The Labour party had won the respect and confidence of people and were credible and relevant to what was going on. Labour was of the people and the community – ‘of them, by them and for them’. Being Labour was as easy as breathing.

Being optimistic about the complex issues of today is a tough ask. Change isn’t easy. But in a period of profound disquiet about our politics and the seismic upheavals in our democracy and governance, we need to make sense of what is happening, explore new and better ways of engaging with each other and find new ideas for tackling the myriad of problems and opportunities in this world of unrelenting and unprecedented upheaval. The past has a great deal to teach us. A society with soul and substance will allow people to feel they have control of their lives and influence over what is happening around them. This loss of control and the feeling of exclusion are undermining personal confidence and paving the way for assaults such as Trump and Brexit to win success.

Social Democracy in Crisis: The Rise of Populism and the Political Right

In western democracies, the pillars of post-war politics – security, stability, solidarity, social cohesion and social mobility – are under threat. The wind of change is getting stronger. The questioning and contesting of the traditional is intensifying. A new consciousness is stirring and complaining. The post-war political settlement is in danger of being torn up. A new era has emerged where anger, angst, uncertainty, insecurity, fear, grievance and resentment are changing the opinions of millions of people. The agony and humiliation of feeling you are losing out or falling behind are increasingly shaping the face of our politics, which in turn is weakening democracies and delivering ineffective governance. The heretical is becoming the commonplace. Many are looking for a new future that offers hope and populism is capturing the minds of those who feel politically excluded. Populists and the right have corralled and exploited much of this revolt. Progressives see this as a step back into a darker past and as a direct threat to social democracy, socialism and liberal democracy. They see freedoms and progressive policies under attack in a populist backlash that reminds them of the uglier parts of history and the myriad evils which accompany authoritarianism, intolerance, economic nationalism and right wing extremism. In the sweep of modern political history, is this transitory or transformational? A tipping point or a blip? Background noise or clear signals of a new normal being formed?

The context. The forces shaking and transforming the old political order are globalisation, automation, technology, the digital revolution, the Facebook era, the marketisation of society, the economy and politics, austerity (the ongoing effect of the financial crisis of2008), the atomisation of society and the rise of individualism. Deepening inequality and the decline of social democracy and progressiveness are scarring our societies and crowding out hope for the future. Populism offers the past in a new garb.

The events.Brexit2016, the Scottish referendum2014, theUSpresidential election and the migrant crisis in theEU. Trump2016, Macron/Le Pen2017, Wilders2017and the2015and2017UKgeneral elections and the2017constitutional referendum in Turkey.

The causes.People falling behind, being excluded, feeling that no one is listening; the breakdown of traditional loyalties and allegiances; the entitlements of elites; and mainstream parties taking people for granted; erosion of respect resulting in a backlash from the ‘just about managing’.

The emotions.Especially in England, a sense of frustration, anxiety, loss of control and influence, nostalgia, longing for past conditions (real or imaginary) the lure and the loss of greatness, a sense of not belonging in a changing nation, fewer landmarks directions and signposts, fear of the unknown, heightened social anxieties, real material deprivation for many (both in or out of work). One grievance runs into another, anger and grudge become more combustible and people are receptive to emergent ‘heroes’ who appear empathetic, offering hope and a direction in which to channel grievances and blame as an outlet for their anger. Trump and Brexit exhibit all of these. The idea of the ‘political fan’ is emerging where ‘we will support you evermore’ becomes a powerful mantra from the tribal world of football.

The reactions.Anger towards establishment elites and experts with hostility to traditional parties in some quarters, identity and nationality politics shaping the debate and the scapegoating and ‘outing’ of people, difference becoming a focus for anger. Groups of people or someone or something blamed for our national decline.

The conclusions or outcomes.A new extremism – of the left, but mainly of the right. Profound dissatisfaction with the way people feel they are being treated. A fragile and uncertain politics, the emergence of intolerance and a new era of ‘isms’ threatening the political space and undermining what was a fragile consensus. Fake news, fraud news, alternative facts, the post-truth debate and the lying press (all of which have overtones of the conditions under pre-war nationalist regimes in Europe), are in danger of destroying the basis of rational and constructive debate. This is politics without a trusted base of facts and evidence, where consensus crumbles and each political base develops its own parallel universe.

The exploiters.The constellation of populists, the right, the treacherous, the cheap patriots who say they love their country (but do everything to damage it), the ideologues, all the ‘isms’ and racism. The media (especially the right-leaning press) engaging millions of people by ostensibly offering to reflect their emotions, patriotism and love of country, but in reality encouraging them to vote against their own economic interests, abusing truth on an industrial scale and promoting right wing fanaticism as common sense and in the best interests of the country. The press has moved from giving commentary to becoming key players in the unfolding of any political drama.

The enemy within.