The new Labour government aims to counter the “snake oil charm of populism”. Right wing populism suggests that minorities or outsiders represent a threat to the national majority, and it thereby encourages and excuses the racism we have seen expressed by gangs of thugs terrorising parts of UK cities over the last week.
For too many in the media, as was evident on election night, right wing populism means the likes of Nigel Farage. But as I emphasised here, right wing populism in the UK is far more widespread. The rhetoric used about immigration and asylum by nearly all Conservative MPs is populist. Brexit happened because of right wing populism. Much of this country’s press could reasonably be described as promoting right wing populism. The kind of violence we have seen over the last week has been for many years formented by the language of mainstream political parties and mainstream media.
Good, competent government that does not deliberately set out to inflame divisions within society is important in reducing the appeal of right wing populism. Governing to ensure economic divisions within society are reduced rather than increased is another. Ensuring that prosperity and public service provision in the country as a whole does not stagnate compared to other countries also helps. Unfortunately, even achieving all of these things does not ensure that ring wing populism will not prosper.
This is because right wing populism is increasingly seen by particular monied elites as a means of obtaining political power and financial benefits. This is most transparent in the US, where billionaires seem quite happy to openly support a candidate for President that tried to overturn an election he lost and a political party that appears beholden to that candidate and indifferent to democratic
