Governments that are within weeks of delivering all that they promised the electorate in their manifesto should not suffer major House of Commons defeats, and yet that is exactly the fate that has befallen Boris Johnson‘s government.
Covid-19 was not, of course, something that Johnson referred to in his manifesto: it was unknown at the time that he sought election only just over a year ago. There is, however, an uncanny resemblance between last night's rebellion by his own backbenchers and the rebellions that had brought to an end to the previous Parliament. In both cases populist, right-wing, backbench Tories rebelled on an issue where evidence suggested that their demands were unrealistic. In the process they sought to embarrass their own prime minister into submission. The fact that they now have a prime minister who is one of their own does not seem to have changed their attitude: for this group any old target will do so long as they can vilify it for short-term gain.
And that, of course, is populist politics in a nutshell. Ignore the evidence. Dismiss the experts. Create a grievance. Hype it in the media. Find someone to blame. Ramp up the rhetoric. Repeat as often as necessary. Glow in the aftermath of rebellion. Never accept responsibility. Move on.
There is just one problem with this type of politics. That is that we have a government beholden to it. Indeed, it was created within its cauldron. But, as is now apparent, that is now an inconvenient truth for the diehards. Those who were once part of the rebellion are now, just as easily, those to be rebelled against. The cause of populist opposition is indifferent as to its targets as long as they are readily available.
The likes of Gove and Johnson, who with a foolhardy lack of forethought believed that they could embrace this cause for the own gain, might now see how stupid they were. Their belief that the far right of the Conservative Party could be tamed with the delivery of Brexit can now be seen for the folly that is always was. There is just one downside. We have still got Brexit to deal with.
And are the far right happy? Clearly not. The chance that they will now vote against any arrangement that Johnson brings to Parliament with regard to the EU is very high. Being in favour of something goes against their ethos. Johnson and Gove failed to understand the mentality of those who they thought they had embraced, but who actually used those two fools in much the same way as they will use or abuse anyone in pursuit of their folly.
It's hard to recall but it is only 18 months since Johnson expelled around 20 MPs from his party. It must be horribly apparent to him now that he chose the wrong group to expel. But it is too late for him to admit that. For the rest of us, his disastrous errors of judgement will extract a price far beyond anything that might have reasonably been anticipatable.
The staggering fact is that Johnson will inevitably go down in history as one of the worst prime ministers that the UK has ever had, and as a footnote, it will be recalled that he could not even take those who brought him into power with him on the journey to the fulfilment of his manifesto. As evidence of failure that takes some beating.
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“one of the worst prime ministers that the UK has ever had”
Thatcher: laid the foundations & started building,
B.Liar kept the tory show on the road because he always was, a tory.
Cam-moron – Cotswold village idiot and spawn of Thatcher demonstrating a posh voice and no brains can still get you where you want to be on Leper Island
May, fancied heself as Thatcher 2 but lacked the brains (Brexit means Brexit) or the support
Fatberg, a sewn together Franko-monster created by the media (thanks Mr Hislop – Hisplop?) and used by tory-fascists.
All the above supported by the servile/vile UK media apparatus, who for the most part applaud failure and stupidity – and which grooms large swathes of the lumpen populace so they are more interested in gormless stuff like “The crown” – Coronation St with posh accents and in posh settings (oooh – who is she shagging now?) , than in politics.
I watched a documentary about the Nuremburg trials last night.
Apparently they were held to try ensure that things like the holocaust could never happen again.
And here we are – in the 2000’s – with politicians seemingly everywhere playing with the same methodologies that the Nazis used to brutalise their own people.
Progress? Yeah right…………………….
This is why MMT, GND and PQE are so important. They will end the cycle of hopelessness in the electorate and right wing ‘distraction opportunism’ in politics.
“And that, of course, is populist politics in a nutshell. Ignore the evidence. Dismiss the experts. Create a grievance. Hype it in the media. Find someone to blame. Ramp up the rhetoric. Repeat as often as necessary. Glow in the aftermath of rebellion. Never accept responsibility. Move on.”
The Brexiters and Trumpists in a nutshell. Right whinge grievance warriors. Often very wealthy businessmen or their paid hangers on in politics, right wing thinktanks or the media, preaching grivance politics to resentful, bitter people who believe themselves ‘oppressed’ by bodies like the EU, or threatened by political movements such as BLM. Yearning for some glorious past that never existed; and in the process of doing so, making the present and future much worse for everybody.
Richard, I think Johnson will easily go down as the worst ever British PM. In fact, he’ll go down as the British PM who destroyed Britain by giving the non English parts of the UK all the reason they need to go for independence.
After all, to any intelligent person in these countries (and loads of us here in England too), you think: look at where English politics has got us……a man like johnson with a majority of 80!!!
Agreed
‘Right whinge’ – love it!
“Right whinge”; that crisp put-down is perfect for what passes for discussion in both the tabloids and broadsheets (vulgarity on a bigger page) that make up the unseemly melee that is our crude media circus; and I trust it is picked up, used and re-used widely: it so perfectly and incisively summarises what Richard described in only eight paragraphs (sorry, Richard – but it is witty!).
I give up 🙂
Thank you John, much appreciated. It just seems so appropriate for the awful right wing liars and fools that pollute so much of public discourse here and the rest of the world. Very often privileged, self-centred, utterly lacking in empathy, and getting their way in life far too much of the time, yet full of self pity and a sense of being done down by their ‘enemies’ and opponents.
Like us! Those of us with some sense that other people/species/the biosphere matter, that co-operation is as important as competition, and that market values aren’t the only way to define human existence. In the UK, they make up so much of the English exceptionalism that’s brought us to the state we’re in now.
If only Johnson could exhibit the same discipline and expel the rebels………
The issue is surely incompetent voters, not politicians. No competent electorate would have let Boris anywhere near authority yet here in clown land he’s PM. There are still those on Twitter and no doubt elsewhere who will remorselessly howl Remoaner as if it were some kind of argument. It’s beyond incredible they should be allowed to have a voice in the runnning of anything when they so clearly have so little grasp of reality. Meanwhile I see again and again on social media suggestions from hauliers they will be avoiding Britain, preferring to be earning easily and well delivering to and from other nations rather than parking for days in Kentish fields. Disaster takes form and substance before us, and to blame are those incompetents who cast their votes towards our collective undoing.
Bill, it’s the disaster known as English politics. Hopeless voting system, the idiotic Tory/Labour duopoly, and, yes, an electorate far too many of whom are ill informed, have no interest in being informed, believe the English are some uniquely special people who are being persecuted by ‘others’ like immigrants, the EU, “liberal lefties”.
As you say,. how does anyone with an ounce of intelligence think Johnson is fit, for a millisecond, to be Prime Minister?
In the webinar tonight (much appreciated), one of your questioners talked about “rational expectations”. I thought to myself that there can be few ideas that give a worse fit to actual observation. 50,000+ unnecessary COVID deaths, Brexit in 3 weeks. Perhaps there can be a job guarantee cleaning the Portaloos on the M20
I will be doing a blog on this
” it is only 18 months since Johnson expelled around 20 MPs ” – this cannot be correct. 18 months ago Johnson was a regular MP having difficulties telling a bulldozer from a front-loader (something about lying in front of…) and in no position to expel anyone. Not that I’m a fan of Johnson’s (far from it) but we shouldn’t get into the habit of wishing time away…… Much to be done…..
Last year then
For the record, Johnson was elected as Conservative party leader on 23 July 2019. It was exactly 15 months ago today, 3 September 2019, that 21 conservative MPs voted against the government and had the whip withdrawn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2019_suspension_of_rebel_Conservative_MPs
10 of them had the whip restored on 29 October, and 4 were re-elected in the December 2019 general election (Steve Brine, Greg Clark, Stephen Hammond, Caroline Nokes). The other 6 stood down. Of the other 11, 6 stood down and 5 stood as independents or Lib Dems and lost their seats.
Those who stood down, but might otherwise have been expected to continue, include the likes of Phil Hammond, Rory Stewart and Ed Vaizey – and this issue caused others such as Jo Johnson and Amber Rudd to stand down too. The 5 whose whip was not restored, but stood and lost, include David Gauke and Dominic Grieve. Love them or hate them, but their experience and capability puts the current cabinet into the shade.
Thanks