The dangers of populism
It is easier to see reasons for the spread of populism in Europe than it is to find a solution. Right wing parties are gaining support across the continent and many like the Front National in France and UKIP in the UK look likely to increase their vote in the May elections.
The recent referendum in Switzerland was yet further evidence that immigration is a major worry for voters. Populist parties appeal to those who are missing out on the fruits of globalisation and see jobs and housing going to immigrants. Research in the UK, for example, has shown that many UKIP voters are working class and the party is aiming to attract Labour voters in Northern towns as well as disaffected Tories in Southern shires. As inequality increases, popular discontent grows.
Populism is driven by disillusion with politics in general, not just by hostility to the EU. The Labour Party is in danger of losing its links with its blue-collar base as fewer MPs come from a working class background. It is now a reformist, liberal party of the centre left that often gives the impression of being more concerned with such socio-cultural reforms as opposing discrimination and promoting multiculturalism than it is with bread and butter economic questions.
Richard Sennett has spoken of the ‘class contempt’ with which New Labour treated its traditional constituencies and similar criticisms have been made of the Social Democrats in Germany.
All mainstream parties have declined in membership and now give the impression of being controlled by a small elite. It is important not to confuse the anti-Europeanism of some in the Tory party with the views expressed by UKIP. Anti-European Tories like John Redwood and Lord Lawson are not opposed to the EU because they dislike globalisation. They see Brussels as the obstacle to globalisation and actually want a Britain that is more open to the capitalist free market.
No discussion of populism should forget Alex Salmond, a crowd pleaser of the highest order, even more accomplished than Nigel Farage, running a campaign for Scottish independence that is long on promises and short on explanation of how the goodies on offer will be paid for.
According to the British Social Attitudes survey, only 16 per cent of people say they trust government ‘most of the time’ and 40 per cent say they ‘almost never’ trust government. That should be a wake-up call to politicians. Change is vital to regain trust in politics.
A priority should be to find ways to encourage greater public involvement. Primary elections are one way to do this although the American experience with the Tea Party shows that they can also encourage populist activism. Labour’s primary for the London mayor election will be a test.
Britain is too centralised with too much decision-making taking place in Whitehall. Increased power to local and local bodies would enable them to shape services to meet local needs and priorities but the quality of local government bureaucracies needs to be improved.
Surveys consistently show that most people think politicians belong to a class apart. Too few of them have worked in the real world; most have spent their careers in a political bubble serving as special advisers, Trade Union officials and the like. Parties need to recruit candidates from beyond a narrow elite.
Amatya Sen has argued democracy is not just about counting heads; it calls for public reasoning in which diversity, variety and tolerance are fundamental. Too many politicians are good at spin or ‘Punch and Judy’ debate but poor at public reasoning. They need to be called to account. This is an area where the churches could play a role. At present too many bishops sound like politicians themselves, jumping on bandwagons and echoing conventional opinion rather than seeking to dig deeper and suggesting new ways to frame a debate.
Populists are good at exploiting grievances but poor at finding solutions to genuine problems. It is depressing that UKIP will almost certainly do well in the European elections when the record of its MEPs has been so abysmal.
Research by the Financial Times has made clear just how unable or unwilling the party’s MEPs have been to protect British interests at Brussels. Farage attended only one of 42 meetings of the fisheries committee on which he sat for three years. In the European Parliament committees play an important role in moulding legislation but when Farage did finally show up to vote on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy he was described by one observer as looking ‘ bemused’, abstaining on some amendments, voting against others. He did not even attend the final vote on how much fish fishermen should throw away despite having called the previous policy ‘shameful’.
He has the 10th worst attendance record of all 766 MEPs but like other UKIP representatives takes all the expenses due to him.
Mainstream politicians need to lift their game but the spotlight also needs to be turned on the actual performance of the populists. Churches that provide hustings in General Elections need to get involved in the European elections, making sure that the politicians discuss the issues in a reasoned way and do not get away with easy promises and crowd-pleasing rhetoric.