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The hard-right rhetoric is an imitation of Thatcher’s populism – but it has the potential to be even more vicious
The rightwingers who now dominate the Conservative party see enemies everywhere they look. In parliament, “collaborators” with the European Union, who will force Britain to “surrender”. Behind them, shadowy financial backers such as George Soros, singled out by Jacob Rees-Mogg as “remoaner funder-in-chief”. In the universities and the media, the promoters of “cultural Marxism”, an alien ideology that must be rooted out, according to Suella Braverman. And above all, an unaccountable liberal elite that stands in the way of the hopes and aspirations of the British people.
Once these claims were mostly to be found on the far right – but the current Tory leadership has placed them at the heart of mainstream discourse. Consider the new home secretary, Priti Patel, who casually caricatured the politicians opposed to her as the “north London metropolitan liberal elite” in a conference speech that drew outrage from some quarters and passionate defence – or rushed excuses – from others. Her choice of words, as many pointed out, echoed a classic antisemitic trope: “north London” is often a shorthand for Jews; “metropolitan liberal elite” isn’t far off from “rootless cosmopolitans”. Continue reading...