Lesson from the UK is beware of all populists
THE news that the UK voted for Brexit came like a thunderbolt in 2016, greeted here with a mixture of shock and glee. Our nearest neighbour’s decision to go it alone would, we suspected, cost us dearly but still, watching the Brits sally forth to recapture the glory of Empire, blinded by jingoistic pride to the prospect of failure, let alone the might of the EU when turned against them, was a guilty pleasure, like seeing the class bully humiliated.
In contrast, Liz Truss’s resignation after a pathetic 44 days in charge, the third prime minister in a year, should generate no schadenfreude.
Britain feels less like our ancient enemy today and more like a cousin, albeit one who is lost in the self-destructive haze of alcohol or drug addiction. We may not be completely wild about our cousin, but they are part of the fabric of our life.
The softening of our attitude towards the UK is a function of its diminished standing in the world and our reliance on it. Daniel O’Connell’s rallying cry was that ‘Britain’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’ but in 2022, Britain’s difficulty is ours too.
The UK is our strongest trading partner; we depend on it for our security. We have a paltry navy; who do we turn to if Putin’s warships are spotted off the coast? There’s also, of course, the North.
Most Irish people have family and friends in the UK. Truss’s husband is one Hugh O’Leary. The chaos and instability she has amplified will cause their mortgages to balloon, put their jobs at risk, make more hardworking families reliant on food banks and see their living standards shrivel.
Truss’s successor will have to restore credibility, but pundits argue a new leader is like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic; as long as the Brexit fantasy is alive, the UK will be an economic basketcase.
The same wave of right-wing populism that swept the UK out of the EU swept Donald Trump into office, both promising a small low-tax Government, on borrowed money, culminating in unprecedented riots on Capitol Hill and scenes of uproar in Westminster.
Populism substitutes policies with shambolic politicians promising that the solution to deep-seated problems is easy.
It has contempt for experts. The first thing Truss did was fire the most senior civil servant in the Treasury.
England is the Mother of Parliaments; US democracy encapsulates the breathtaking vision of its founding fathers. We are comparative babies, governing ourselves for only 100 years. Yet even in the worst of times, when Brian Cowen’s government fell apart, we knew our ministers were serious politicians, that they would govern in the national interest. That is no reason for complacency.
Westminster, the most advanced system of parliamentary democracy in the world has been destabilised by torrents of ideological fervour and repeated incompetence in the role of prime minister.
We should beware the left-wing populist beast within and the prospect of Sinn Féin’s swelling support bringing a bunch of inexperienced and untested politicians to power.
Even voters who are dubious about the party’s pedigree are considering giving the Shinners a vote, simply through lack of alternatives and in the desperate hope of an answer to the housing emergency.
They might think again, lest they discover that the proverbial cure is worse than the disease and delivers a lethal blow to our democracy.