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Farage, Rees-Mogg, Claire Fox... Britain is seduced by politicians who are 'characters'
Britain’s privileged history explains the denial in part. We are a moderate island, runs the national myth, extremism happens over the water and far away. But the refusal to tear the masks away matters more. I have never seen a television broadcaster hold Farage to account for his blatant misrepresentations of the consequences of no deal.
The BBC could barely bring itself to cover his and his financial backers’ links to the Russian embassy. Journalists call Johnson “Boris”, as if he were a pal entitled to mates’ rates they would never grant a stranger. And when Eddie Mair, then of the BBC, did his job and subjected him to a tough interview in 2017, what would have been a routine occurrence in a healthy democracy caused a sensation.
Every slippery politician is looking for the same chummy consideration. Supporters of the Labour leader are trying to establish him as “Jeremy” rather than “Corbyn” or “Mr Corbyn”, to quote the most egregious example. Politicians become journalists and journalists become politicians, as the firewalls of democracy burn down. You don’t have to be famous to enjoy protection. Claire Fox, of Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, is inevitably one of the most immoral people in public life. She and her Revolutionary Communist party sect have covered up war crimes against Bosnian Muslims, justified IRA murders of civilians and defended child porn. Only when she stood for Farage’s party this month did most voters learn of her dark past. Why was it never mentioned in her hundreds of appearances on the BBC? The question answers itself. The BBC will not apply the same standards to its “talent” as it applies to others.
The week after the media personalities Johnson and Gove triumphed in the 2016 Brexit referendum I wrote: “If you think rule by professional politicians is bad, wait until journalist politicians take over.” Now you know the consequences: a country that cannot leave the EU or stay in. A country that can address no other issue but Brexit, but cannot resolve Brexit either. A country where no one who campaigned for Brexit will take responsibility for it. For all their aping of the manners of the Victorian and Churchillian establishments, the characters who have taken over the British right have not provided us with a ruling class but a ruling chaos.
The BBC could barely bring itself to cover his and his financial backers’ links to the Russian embassy. Journalists call Johnson “Boris”, as if he were a pal entitled to mates’ rates they would never grant a stranger. And when Eddie Mair, then of the BBC, did his job and subjected him to a tough interview in 2017, what would have been a routine occurrence in a healthy democracy caused a sensation.
Every slippery politician is looking for the same chummy consideration. Supporters of the Labour leader are trying to establish him as “Jeremy” rather than “Corbyn” or “Mr Corbyn”, to quote the most egregious example. Politicians become journalists and journalists become politicians, as the firewalls of democracy burn down. You don’t have to be famous to enjoy protection. Claire Fox, of Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, is inevitably one of the most immoral people in public life. She and her Revolutionary Communist party sect have covered up war crimes against Bosnian Muslims, justified IRA murders of civilians and defended child porn. Only when she stood for Farage’s party this month did most voters learn of her dark past. Why was it never mentioned in her hundreds of appearances on the BBC? The question answers itself. The BBC will not apply the same standards to its “talent” as it applies to others.
The week after the media personalities Johnson and Gove triumphed in the 2016 Brexit referendum I wrote: “If you think rule by professional politicians is bad, wait until journalist politicians take over.” Now you know the consequences: a country that cannot leave the EU or stay in. A country that can address no other issue but Brexit, but cannot resolve Brexit either. A country where no one who campaigned for Brexit will take responsibility for it. For all their aping of the manners of the Victorian and Churchillian establishments, the characters who have taken over the British right have not provided us with a ruling class but a ruling chaos.
[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/11/farage-rees-mogg-claire-fox-britain-is-seduced-by-politicians-who-are-characters|
Listening to Farage on Andrew Marr this morning and how anyone can fall for this charlatans bollocks is beyond me.
