2016 saw two cataclysmic political upheavals, the UK vote to leave the European Union and the US election of Donald Trump to be president.
Both countries are desperately divided as a result of these votes. Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have called for unity, for people to come together. Yet these calls are not falling on ears prepared to listen.
Here’s why.
Let’s take the Brexit vote first. Had there been a reasoned and reasonable debate in the UK on the merits of remaining in or leaving the EU, with balanced and credible information presented to the electorate, then the mood in the country now would be very different, whoever had won. The reason is that people on the losing side would know they had lost a fair fight. There would not be the anger and sense of betrayal in those that voted remain. This is because the referendum was won by the leavers on the basis of disinformation, lies and scaremongering. For example, the now infamous claim that £350 million per week of extra funding could be provided to the NHS (British public health service) if the UK left the EU was considered a major factor in winning the referendum for the leave side, despite the claim being ludicrously false and, after the vote, immediately abandoned by the politicians who had made it. The aftermath of the referendum also fed the anger amongst those who had voted to remain. Boris Johnson was the most public backer of leaving the EU, yet it is known beyond doubt that he only did so to undermine then prime minister David Cameron and further his own political ambitions. The final nail in the coffin of any hopes to mitigate the bitter aftertaste of the referendum has been the selection by the Conservative party of Theresa May to be prime minister and guide the UK out of the EU. To many, it beggars belief that the prime minister in charge of this huge step should be in place without the support and validation of a general election victory.
Theresa May has called for the UK to come together, to heal the rift. This cannot and will not happen until the causes of the division are addressed. This is not about the result of the referendum so much as it is about the conduct of it and the political machinations that have followed. Those boils must be lanced before there can be reconciliation. Polling since the referendum, done in light of the revelations of how much the public were lied to, has shown a consistent desire for the UK to remain in the EU.
To summarise. The UK has an unelected prime minister having no mandate with the declared intention of dragging the UK out of the EU with as little parliamentary involvement as possible, against the wishes of the majority of the British people in the wake of a referendum dominated by misinformation and personal ambition. And somehow we are all supposed to just put it behind us and move on?
Sorry Theresa, that isn’t going to happen.
Let’s shift focus to the US and the hugely unexpected election of Donald Trump as president. I’ll start by apologising for speaking on behalf of American citizens. I will try not to misrepresent you.
The first source of anger for those who did not vote for Trump is obvious. He lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million. That’s a lot. It’s a considerably larger margin than most Presidents have won by in the past, yet Trump lost by that much but still won in the electoral college stakes. Which brings us to the next source of anger. Alexander Hamilton envisaged the electoral college as the last line of defence against a candidate exactly like Trump. Yet it is clear the majority of politicians (including the electors) in the Republican party want power at any price. Even if it means undermining the country’s democracy and making a mockery of the institutions that underpin it. Many are further angered and scared by Trump’s breath-taking hypocrisy in his actions and appointments, his horrifying ignorance of issues such as climate science, technology and international politics, his petulance and inability to accept criticism, his flagrant disregard for his multiple conflicts of interest and his dangerous, some would say treasonous, excusing of Vladimir Putin’s alleged interference in the election process. It would be hard to imagine anyone so utterly unsuited to the role of US President. The civilised world is aghast and fearful of what will follow. Even impeachment would most likely hand over the reins to Mike Pence, who is more right wing with better impulse control. Not much of an improvement, although he is perhaps less likely to instigate a war. American politics have been getting increasingly divided over the years, but this election has created a massive echoing gulf between the right and left, although those terms are not a very good definition of those who support or oppose Trump. Talk of ‘coming together’ is as unlikely in the USA as it is in the UK.
In both countries, the political establishment has to stop pretending this is business as usual. It is not. They have to face what has happened honestly and with humility. They must put aside personal and party ambition completely, acting as one body to rectify what has happened. If referendums and elections have to be repeated, then so be it. Make it happen and work in unison to ensure that the campaigns that take place are held to the standard of honesty and accountability that the electorate deserve. We cannot simply say “oh but of course Politicians lie”. Accepting a situation where people vote on the basis of prejudice and disinformation is an abandonment of the hope of democracy. Instead create a situation where people are given the truth, given honest answers to the questions they ask, presented clearly with alternative visions and then allowed to choose without interference. You may laugh and say that is naïve. My response is that if we do not declare our aim to make our democratic processes as good as we can make them, then we are accepting that they will decline and collapse.
We have to fight for our free world, for our ideals and for our future. They are not guaranteed.
If our leaders truly want us to come together, then they must acknowledge that the votes of 2016 were a betrayal, a travesty. They must be re-done with a new spirit, a new determination to make democracy great again, if you’ll excuse my re-imagining of a certain politician’s slogan. Then, whatever the outcomes, everyone can know that it is truly the will of the people.
I have almost no hope at all that the sort of actions I believe necessary will take place. In many ways I fear that our western democracies are entering their end days. We have replaced idealism with cynicism, truth with slogans and hope with fear. We are heading either into dissolution and decay, or revolution and chaos. Possibly one and then the other. The window of time we have left to re-energise our countries is not long. One year perhaps. 2017 will be the year that we win or lose this fight.
I wish you all good luck.
Filed under: Politics & Religion
