Seven years ago, in 2015, I watched Jeremy Corbyn on BBC1 TV, talk about political policies that would benefit the majority of British people, rather than enriching a privileged few.
He said things that are considered economic “common sense” in 2022, such as:
Austerity “lowers income, lowers wages, lowers income tax, increases demand on welfare because of the levels of poverty in Britain, and so it actually is a cycle of decline. Surely it’s better to invest in an economy, to grow income and grow prosperity?”… and more.
I then watched as the right wing media lied about Corbyn, and his policies, destroying his chances in the general election.
I went on to ask:
“There are alternatives. It must be possible for an alternative story to be heard.”
In October 2022, the Conservative party is facing destruction as Labour take a 36-point lead in new polls. There’s a (temporary?) appetite among many voters to hear about an alternative to Conservative party libertarianism.
So, what needed to happen for an alternative political story to reach voters?
- Time needed to pass – the Conservatives have been in power for 12 years.
- Labour have to present as small-c conservative
- As inequality and poverty has grown over the past 12 years, the Conservative stories grew wilder and wilder, and more detached from reality in an attempt to distract voters
- As the Conservative stories became further detached from reality, the Conservative government became more and more incompetent, as it promoted incompetent politicians who believed in / were willing to pretend to believe in lies
- Six years after Brexit, the “sunlit uplands” have not been reached – the NHS did not receive additional funding. Many Brexiters look like liars or incompetent. See: Project Fear was right all along (15 Oct 2022). Text.
- Coronavirus – hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths. Boris Johnson partying in Downing St, and politicians lying about it
- Austerity – many thousands of unnecessary deaths
- The UK is facing energy blackouts in winter
- Energy bills are becoming unaffordable for many people
- All rivers in England are polluted
- The “dog finally caught the car”. The IEA and other opaquely funded lobbying organisations were able to enact their economic policies in the September 2022 mini-budget fronted by Truss and Kwarteng. As the Daily Express acknowledged before the budget announcements: “Thanks partly to her long involvement with centre-right think tanks, no one at the top of her party has a better understanding of policy development, or a deeper knowledge of the British state and its failings.”
- But: The mini-budget was a fantasy that caused a negative impact that could be tracked immediately, which is unusual for Conservative lies
- The mini-budget was viewed as unfair – gave a huge tax cut for super-wealthy
- The mini-budget led to 40% of mortgages being withdrawn, and tens of thousands of people facing higher mortgages
- The mini-budget caused a “fiscal black hole – estimated to be about £70bn”
The right wing media and their “think tanks” welcomed the mini budget. As the subsequent economic crash was clearly linked to Kwarteng’s announcements, many of the budget cheerleaders were revealed as liars, paid shills, fantasists and/or incompetent – which opened up some space for other political stories to reach voters.
In conclusion, the conditions needed for an alternative political story to reach and persuade large numbers of voters in the UK are pretty depressing.
It’s taken mass death, environmental collapse and the threat of mass homelessness – but at least it shows the Conservative party’s claims to “own reality” are nonsense. Change is possible.
Addendum: Mini budget impact and examples of the media reaction
Kwarteng and Truss’ libertarian mini budget
“sent the pound crashing to its lowest level against the dollar in 37 years.
“In a high-risk strategy designed to revive Britain’s stagnant economy, the new chancellor announced more than £400bn of extra borrowing over the coming years to fund the biggest giveaway since Tony Barber’s ill-fated 1972 budget.
“Kwarteng said tax cuts worth more than £55,000 annually to someone earning £1m a year were part of a new direction for the economy and were designed to help boost growth to 2.5% a year. Some Labour MPs described them as a “class war”.
The impact includes: “More than 5 million families could face an average rise in annual mortgage payments of £5,100 between now and the end of 2024, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank. Though partly caused by global problems, almost a quarter of the sum – £1,200 – is thought to be a result of the moron premium. City economists reckon this would have far outweighed any benefit from Kwarteng’s tax cuts.”
And: “Even if benefits are uprated with inflation, poorer households will suffer the biggest fall in real disposable incomes on record, wiping out all the gains of the last 20 years, according to the Resolution Foundation. Poorer households are about to face “a catastrophically bad year”. This Tory generation, from 1980 onwards, will turn Britain into the most unequal country in Europe, bar Bulgaria.”
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