Mudslinging clouds crucial UK vote
Brexit and health care are in the balance
LONDON – Britain, a nation of tea drinkers, will decide this week on one of the most divisive and important issues it has faced in a generation or more: Which variety of tea bag does it want in its mug? “The Boris blend” or “Cuppa Corbyn”?
The tongue-in-cheek, special edition teas are available to order only until Thursday, when the country holds its fourth national vote in as many years, including 2016’s politically paralyzing referendum on European Union membership – Brexit.
Though polls indicate an uncertain outcome, if New York-born Boris Johnson’s incumbent Conservative Party retains power with a comfortable majority in Parliament, it effectively will clear a path for him to push through Britain’s EU departure Jan. 31. If Johnson loses, or doesn’t prevail with a large enough majority, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn may try to form a minority government by partnering with other opposition groups such as the Liberal Democrats, a party whose manifesto is dominated by one message: “Stop Brexit.”
A Corbyn win could lead to a new Brexit referendum, potentially prolonging Britain’s three-year divorce battle with its most important trading partner.
Under Britain’s centuries-old political system, the nation elects a party, not a leader, meaning the ruling party can make changes at the top.
Surveys show as many as one in five voters are undecided about whom to vote for, largely because of uncertainties and confusion surrounding the impact of Brexit on Britain’s economy and social welfare system, especially its taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS). Corbyn’s Labour Party has raised the specter of Johnson agreeing to allow U.S. pharmaceutical companies and medical contractors more direct access to the NHS in return for a postBrexit trade deal with Washington.
Britain’s political parties have stretched the limits of truth in ways that have made it difficult to separate fact from fantasy.
Last month, the Conservatives released a video aggressively edited to show a Labour spokesman unable to answer a question about the party’s position on Britain’s EU exit. During a debate,
“We have seen the erosion of the standards we’re used to.” Timothy Bale political scientist, Queen Mary University of London
the Conservative Party’s press office temporarily rebranded its Twitter account “factcheckUK” and used it to attack Corbyn’s comments.
A study by media watchdog First Draft found nearly 90% of Facebook ads paid for by the Conservative Party so far this month contained misleading claims.
Competing assertions about the NHS have been particularly galling for voters such as Jim Hall, 28, a student in London. “The NHS is not something that should be politicized,” he said, noting he is underwhelmed by Johnson and Corbyn, finding the former untrustworthy and the latter politically ineffective.
“There are no circumstances in which this government or any Conservative government will put the NHS on the table in any trade negotiation,” Johnson said Friday during a debate with Corbyn, who claimed he had a large dossier of documents that amounted to “proof” that the NHS would be up “for sale” if Johnson emerges victorious.
Reddit, the social news aggregator, said Corbyn’s leaked papers were linked to a Russian disinformation campaign.
“We have seen the erosion of the standards we’re used to,” said Timothy Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, “particularly with the Conservative Party playing fast and loose with the truth.”
When President Trump visited Britain last week, he said he could “work with anybody” who occupies No. 10 Downing St., the prime minister’s residence, but Johnson and Corbyn offer different visions for Britain.
In addition to getting “Brexit done” Johnson, 55, would seek to cut taxes and red tape to stimulate economic growth while opening Britain’s coffers to spend more on policing. health and infrastructure development projects.
Johnson gets on well with Trump, not least because both men have populist instincts and Trump has openly supported Brexit. In an echo of Trump’s divisive comments about immigration, Johnson said Monday that EU migrants have for too long been able to “treat the UK as if it’s part of their own country.”
Corbyn, 70, would raise taxes, try to nationalize some infrastructure, and offer free internet access. A lifelong leftwing activist, Corbyn would expand Britain’s government and social programs.
Corbyn could be an awkward fit for Trump, whom he has repeatedly criticized and accused of trying to interfere in Britain’s election.
“It is very clear to me that a trade deal with the United States would put all of our public services at risk, into the hands of global corporations, and they would open up what they gently call our health market,” Corbyn said during a Labour campaign rally.
“Well, I have got news for them. There is no health market. We shut that down in 1948 when we established the National Health Service,” he said.
The country remains bitterly divided over its relationship with the EU, and even if Johnson succeeds in formally dragging Britain out of the alliance Jan. 31, it will be just the start of a deeper separation process of negotiations over trade, borders, agriculture, security and more that are likely to last several years.
“Britain’s nightmare before Christmas: A divided country faces an election that will tear it still further apart,” The Economist said in its election endorsement editorial last week. The magazine reluctantly backed the Liberal Democrats. “British voters keep being called to the polls – and each time the options before them are worse,” it said.