Editorial Comment:
The culture wars are well and truly here in Britain. One key feature is that people interpret issues, events and politicians from a wholly partisan perspective: objectivity and nuance go out the window, all that matters is whether or not the subject is on your side. The Right does it, the Left does it – although the Left and the Remainers bring a particular whiff of hypocrisy to the sorry exercise.
It is an act of violence, they say, to throw an egg at Jeremy Corbyn (which it is) but hilarious to chuck a milkshake over Nigel Farage (which it’s not). Hate speech is unacceptable, except when Left-wing comedians joke that said milkshake ought to be battery acid. The Left weaponises subjects that should be addressed with reason, such as the environment.
Or take the row that happened on Thursday night between Boris Johnson and his partner: many Tories will see this episode as a private matter that should never have been taped and leaked to The Guardian. Many on the Left, by contrast, see it as a confirmation of all their prejudices against Mr Johnson. Very few opinions will be changed, just hardened. What we’re experiencing in Britain right now isn’t a political conversation, just partisan groups shouting at each other, refusing to listen and assuming the absolute worst of the other side. It’s part of a trend across the West, where polarisation and identity politics have replaced the old liberal consensus – but has been made worse in this country by Theresa May’s rudderless leadership, which has failed to deliver what Leave wanted, and Remain’s refusal to accept the referendum result.
Remainers hate Mr Johnson because he is credited with winning the referendum, and as a result there are probably some people in the country who can never forgive him and will believe literally anything suggested of him. He has to prepare himself better for this. The next four weeks – and, if he wins the race, all his time in office – will be a ceaseless battle against the critics. The days when he was cheered at the Olympics as London mayor are over, not because Mr Johnson is any different but because British politics has changed entirely. He got through to this final round not only on his personality but also because he showed he understood this, hence his promise to deliver Brexit, which Eurosceptics are going to hold him to. He made some convincing, cheeringly optimistic points at yesterday’s hustings in Birmingham, but still needs to nail down the details.
A theme that he and Jeremy Hunt turned to was unity – it would be an odd candidate who pledged to divide us – but the reality is that there is a clear choice to be made and nothing to be gained from ambiguity. We are in the EU or out of it. Whichever PM takes us out is going to be hated by some Britons for the rest of his career. That is simply the price one pays for leadership, for daring to be Theodore Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” who knows that “there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds”.
Accepting that Britain is going to be at war with itself for some time, the sensible Tory strategy is to reunite the centre-Right coalition and grow it, to reach out to the young and ethnic minorities with economic policies that will help them achieve their ambitions. It’s not just the absence of Brexit that has put the Tories backwards in the polls but a loss of coherent vision for the country. Whatever happens to British politics over the next few years, we must hope that civility and respect eventually return to public life.
Whichever PM takes us out of the EU is going to be hated by some Britons for the rest of his career. That is the price of leadership