Britain’s dilemma boils down to who’s the least repellent
World of Politics with Harry McGee - [email protected]
The British General Election may be unique on one overriding level in that it’s almost the opposite of a popularity contest. Voters go to the polls on December 12 to choose their new prime minister – and will do so on the basis of which is the least repellent.
The first televised debate last week was revealing. Sure, the audience is packed with partisan supporters. Still, it was shocking to hear open and loud guffaws when Boris Johnson (a practised liar) proclaimed that truth was important.
There were equally high decibels of laughter when Jeremy Corbyn began to say that his stance on Brexit was very clear (in fact it is a non-stance).
We live in an age or irreverence and cynicism; the lighter fuel that has blown up respect has been social media. Anyone forwarding a view and having the temerity (or stupidity) to put it up on Twitter or Facebook can brace themselves for a long thread of gratuitous insults.
Those making it are a teensy proportion of the population, made up of angry and bitter people – and still, their views are somehow taken as a yardstick for public sentiment.
It’s not that politicians (or the media for that matter) are victims in all this. They have taken that cynical approach and refined it.
Look at Donald Trump and his administration. They spray lies around like confetti.
Lots of American media organisations have ‘fact checkers’. It doesn’t matter. By the time they respond, another whole stadium’s worth of porkies have been sent out, or “alternative facts”, as Kellyanne Conway memorably called them.
Many people see this British vote as a rerun of the 2017 election – but it’s not.
Sure, the conditions seemed the same at the start. There was a big gap between the Conservatives and Labour at the start, 17 points. However, by the time of the election in early June that year it had been cut to seven points.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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