THE POLITICAL COMPASS
ED BALLS INVESTIGATES WHY POPULIST PARTIES ARE GROWING IN SUPPORT ACROSS EUROPE…
YOU CAN SEE THAT I FEEL REALLY REPULSED BY THEIR POLITICS”
After spending time with the supporters of Donald Trump across the US for his 2018 series Travels In Trumpland, former shadow chancellor Ed Balls is looking closer to home in this three-part documentary. Ed will be exploring Europe to ask why some of its far-right political parties are becoming more popular – and what that means for us in the UK…
“People liked Trumpland,” Ed tells Inside TV. “And the BBC wanted to do the same again, but [BBC2 controller] Patrick Holland wanted to find Europe’s Trumps, so we set off to find out how populism and Trumpian politics were happening across Europe.”
Ed’s investigation begins in the Netherlands, where he learns that support for far-right candidates is growing among fishermen due to restrictions placed on the industry by the EU. One in particular, Willem, wants to see a “Netherlands first” political approach…
“Then it turns out that he went on holiday to the Gambia four years ago, and now has a wife who’s Gambian!” reveals Ed. “I asked him, ‘What was it like getting her over?’ and he told me it was difficult. I said, ‘You were telling me yesterday there was an open-door policy!’ and he replied, ‘Well, it’s open for them, but for me it was hard!’ There were contradictions in Willem – he was a really nice guy with a Gambian wife, who at the same time had these ‘nobody’s proud to be Dutch any more’ views. I think loads of people watching the show in Britain will know a Willem.”
The first episode also sees Ed visiting southern Spain, where the far-right Vox party has seen a swell of support from voters who worry about a potential ban on bullfighting, and Ed notes that there are patterns he can see repeating in each country he visits.
“I think that there are common themes,” he muses. “People who feel economic change hasn’t been fair for their communities, or that their culture is under threat. Trump or Leave or Vox or Geert Wilders, it’s all about standing up for identity and pride – but, I feel, in a frightening way.”
One big difference between this series and Trumpland is that the latter was about spending time with the voters. Here, Ed also speaks to some of the far-right political figures.
“I spent a bit of time with an elected German MP in
Bremen, and at Marine Le Pen’s headquarters in Marseille,” shares Ed. “In both cases I found it very hard – you can see the extent to which I feel really repulsed by their politics.
“The voters are decent people who don’t feel as though they’re being listened to,” he continues. “They’re looking for somebody who can stand up for them, and end up, for their own reasons, voting for something which I think is darker and more dangerous.”