Capitol storm shows divide

Need for more civil politics

IT IS difficult to judge what is more shocking, the findings of the American House of Congress into the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol or the reaction from a large section of the Republican party.

The House panel investigating the attacks and rioting directed towards lawmakers on January 6, 2021, laid the blame firmly on former president Donald Trump.

The committee said the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.

It is not surprising that Trump has remained unapologetic, though it is genuinely troubling that Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee reacted bby saying: “All. Old. News.”

It is easy to dismiss these events as being far removed from us here in Britain and Yorkshire, having happened many thousands of miles away, but the January 6 insurrection shows the potential destination point that populist politics can lead us to.

In this region we had to suffer the tragic murder of Jo Cox at the hands of a racist white supremacist. There were numerous ugly clashes between pro and anti-Brexit campaigners in Parliament square in the run up to our leaving the EU, many of which saw MPs targeted with threats.

Vile anti-Semitism infiltrated the Labour party during the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and, just this week, the shadow foreign secretary David Lammy was subjected to racial abuse by a former Tory candidate from our region.

The need for more civil, decent and respectful politics could not be more pressing. We should not be so complacent to believe that a January 6-style event could occur here. We will always have differences, but these must be expressed with respect. Mrs Cox’s remarks that we have more in common than divides rings as true now as ever. We must never forget this.