46 Britain The EconomistJuly 22nd 2017
T
HE end of the current parliamentary session, on July 20th, is a
good time to reflect on the mood of British politics. Several
things catch the attention: anxiety about the future, exasperation
at the childish antics of senior politicians, confusion about Brexit.
But the most striking thing is anger. Politicians are angry with
each other. The public is angrywith politicians. The internet
throbs with vitriol. American historians have dubbed the period
after the war of1812 “the era of good feelings”. The current period
in British politics could be dubbed the era of bad feelings.
This week the cabinet infighting became so vicious that There-
sa May, the prime minister, was forced to tell her ministers to shut
up or ship out. Even more disturbing is a surge in violent threats.
A year after the murder of Jo Cox, a LabourMP, by a far-right ex-
tremist, politicians of all stripes say that they fear for their safety,
such is the intensity ofthe insults they face. The threats extend to
journalists. The BBC was reportedly obliged to provide its politi-
cal editor, Laura Kuenssberg, with personal security.
The worst of it is directed at women and minorities. Diane Ab-
bott, Britain’s first black female MP, told Parliament that she had
received tweets saying that she should be hanged “if they could
find a tree big enough to take the fat bitch’s weight.” During the
election campaign, Labour supporters in Bristol unveiled a ban-
ner of Mrs May wearing Star of David earrings. Many ofthe abus-
ers regard criticism of their loathsome behaviour as an invitation
to redouble their efforts. When Yvette Cooper, a Labour MP, gave
a speech condemning the culture of abuse, she was accused of
being a “bully”, a “saboteur” and, worst of all, a “Tory”.
Britain is not unique in all this. Donald Trump has ushered in
an era of bad feelings in America that is even more unpleasant.
The runner-up for France’s presidency, Marine Le Pen, leads a xe-
nophobic party. Supporters of Turkey’s ruling party use online
bots to harass reporters. Britain has experienced other spasms of
political rage in recent decades, particularly over Margaret
Thatcher’s breaking of the miners’ strike and TonyBlair’s support
for the Iraq war. But none of this diminishes the seriousness of
Britain’s current problems. Its mood is darkening as that of Eu-
rope is lightening. And it is engaged in history-shaping negotia-
tions with the European Union that can be saved from disaster
only with the help of clear heads and reasoned debate.Why has British politics become so unpleasant? The answer
to almost everything these days is Brexit, which has split the
country and inflamed opinion. But Brexit is a symptom as well
as a cause. Britain is suffering from a malign combination of eco-
nomic disruption and stagnation. Smart machines are eliminat-
ing some jobs, reorganising others and spreading anxiety. Aver-
age pay has declined by some 7% since the financial crisis of 2008.
People might be willing to accept disruption if it were accompa-
nied by improvements in living standards, or perhaps to tolerate
stagnant living standards if they were accompanied by stability.
But the combination of the two is uniquely dangerous, unleash-
ing a wave of populism that is gaining momentum.
Populists rage against the centrist establishment for failing to
keep its promise of crisis-free growth (remember when Gordon
Brown claimed to have abolished the boom-and-bust cycle?).
And they demonise anybody who stands in their way as traitors
to be crushed rather than as erring colleagues to be persuaded.
Two cabinet ministers, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox, have
questioned the patriotism of people who raise doubts about
Brexit. The Daily Maildubbed three High Court judges “enemies
of the people” after they ruled against the government in a Brexit-
related case. Internet trolls have suggested thatBlairites in the La-
bour Party (some of whom happen to be Jewish) should be sub-
jected to “the final solution”.
Two things are strengthening the poison. The first is the exis-
tence of sharp divisions within each of Britain’s main political
parties. The Tories’ long civil war over Europe has entered an al-
most surreal phase. Rival factions briefagainst each other in the
newspapers, talk about releasing scandalous personal tittle-tattle
and even threaten to kick each other “in the balls”. Labour is en-
during a soft coup. Emboldened by Jeremy Corbyn’s better-than-
expected performance in the general election, the hard-left is
threatening to deselect moderate MPs such as Luciana Berger, the
member for Liverpool Wavertree, who hasbeen subjected to a
co-ordinated campaign of anti-Semitic and misogynistic abuse.
The second is the internet. Social media provide platforms for
monomaniacs who previously raged in the privacy of their bed-
sits. People who might hesitate to berate their fellow citizens in
person show no such qualms when it comes to sounding off
against virtual targets. Bad-tempered tweets, dashed off in sec-
onds, elicit bad-tempered responses, creating a culture of vitriol.Days of rage
Nastiness can be found at both ends of Britain’s political spec-
trum. Butthere is little doubt that the co-ordinated attacks are
worse on the left. The Alt-Left is to Britain what the Alt-Right is to
America. “As someone on the centre-left, there’s a huge difference
between the abuse I get from right and left,” the New Statesman’s
Helen Lewis tweets. “The right doesn’t put the hours in.” The left
is more likely to use nastiness as a political tool. Mr Corbyn’s fac-
tion of Labour seems happy to work with the sort of people who
carry banners displaying Mrs May’s severed head. John McDon-
nell, the shadow chancellor, urged people to take part in a “day of
rage” against the result of a general election in which his party
won 55 fewer seats than the Tories. He has also repeatedly used
the word “murder” to describe the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The great achievement of parliamentary democracy is that it
takes potentially violent political conflicts and civilises them.
That achievement is now threatened—notjust by foam-flecked
maniacs in bedsits, but bysome of the highest in the land. 7Get stuffed
British politics has become dangerously bad-temperedBagehot