Politics is not there to solve problems

Politicians are master manipulators of emotions. Are the streets of Britain in flames and how should we respond? It’s time to take The Sniff Test.

An Identifiable Issue

Modern politics is identity politics. We find a tribe and adopt its values. This is often online for those seeking escape from their surroundings. Promotion within these groups is through prominence and zealotry and, as a result, the tribe’s views become more extreme.

Identity is a strength and a straightjacket. Once shaped, it provides comfort and a sense of belonging. We resist changing even in the face of strong evidence and rile when our people are threatened.

Yet identities are labels and may be used by enemies. Trump is a master of deliberate mispronunciation, describing opponents through nicknames and shrinking their significance by defining them. Our written and spoken words are laced with casual terms of abuse, such as Boomer, Karen and Coconut.

We are different in digital space. It is unclear whether our personality is closer to reality online or in physical proximity to people. The Romans said ‘in wine there is truth’ and the partial anonymity of the internet may be an equivalent. But we are social creatures and public behaviours are a critical element of cultural identity.

Our tribal affinities are manna from heaven for politicians. Party politics is the game without end and while faces change, the parties persist. They seek issues over which to battle, with no intention of solving them, but the pure aim of perpetuating debate. Remaining relevant is the lifeblood of party politics and sucking as many as possible into its squabbles is its primary intention.

One issue stands above all others in perpetuating political debate. It grips at the heart of identity, lends itself to labelling, and flows with the tides of social evolution. As long as nations have existed, the question of who belongs has been inevitable. The politicisation of immigration reached the point of social unrest in the UK this week. But instead of a pause for thought, politicians and media relish in the chaos they created.

Murder Grows Old

Over the past fifteen months I’ve become part of an online community. One member posted yesterday about being too frightened to travel. She came to the UK to feel safe in its religious tolerance and her nine-year old son identifies as British. Her faith has been shaken this week, not in Islam but in Britain.

My wife recoiled from the images of violence at the weekend and voiced what many people are thinking. “Wouldn’t it be nice to move somewhere quiet, away from this hatred?” My response of “Where would that be” was not helpful.

The rioting is blamed on misinformation. This is true, buts runs far deeper and longer than a social media account inventing the identity of the murderer of three young girls. In a world where street violence is blamed on right-wing thugs, and terrorist attacks on mental illness, outing the perpetrator has moved from pastime to profession.

When the first news is the foremost, inventing truths is the best way to force an agenda. Extremists were waiting for this opportunity to agitate. But their success in channelling anger depends on half-truths and opinions peddled as facts.

The week before the murders, the nation saw a policeman kick a prostrate man in the head. The immediate reaction was outrage against institutional racism. Some politicians were circumspect, praising the police for suspending the officer ahead of an inquiry, but with a sixth sense there was more to come. Sure enough, a longer video showed the police under attack prior to the careful edit that first hit the internet.

In the early days of the Gaza conflict a hospital blew up. The BBC, The New York Times and CNN declared this Israel’s first war crime, after being fed the story by Palestinian sources. The mealy-mouthed denial was buried a week later, long after a gas leak was revealed as the cause.

Israel is committing atrocities in Gaza. It declared total war on Hamas and hence its actions are no surprise. For years the liberal media labelled it a pariah state, to the point where the pressure on its few friends to recant is intense. For Israel, this battle is existential and it is not about to back down because it triggered campus unrest and Corbyn’s election. How else would it behave when it already sees a world aligned against it?

The editorial reaction to any event is “how do we spin this story to our narrative” rather than “what is happening here”. CNN’s first reaction to the attempted assassination of Trump was to say he had fallen. Its editors were desperate to paint their opponent as frail as Biden. He is gone, but CNN marches on.

The most disturbing element of the Southport story was how quickly the murders grew old and ‘fake news provokes riots’ became the narrative. The media feels threatened by Big Tech and prioritises any attempt to attack it.

Journalists jumped on evidence of out-of-towners taking violent day trips. Of course the good people of Sunderland wouldn’t riot. It was agitators bussed in by a shadowy network of fascists that did it. I wonder where they live.

For years immigrant communities have been fed the lie that a handful of hateful racists represent the true views of the British people towards them. The rioters are described as England football fans because a few wear sports shirts. The left despises anything associated with national pride. Sport binds people together, but for political editors it is simply another tool of division.

As a result, immigrant communities huddle together for protection, reinforcing their identity and differences with the host nation. The only assimilation required is into the politics of the left, who welcome without question. This faux friendship is a means of continued agitation with the right.

Any confrontation between people with different skin colour progresses the same way. “Is it because I’m black?” is labelling that people are trained to adopt and expect. Everyday misunderstandings with easy resolution, escalate into unnecessary and unresolvable tensions.

On the other side, depressed communities are fed the narrative that the government is against them. The London elites throw money at immigrants, who take the houses, the welfare and the places in the NHS queues that by rights belong to natives. When no one is listening, what do you do?

This narrative was a major motivation for Brexit. It is a reason the Red Wall fell before Boris in 2019, and why it rebuilt in 2024. The London elites let you down again. All that remains is to take to the streets.

Name and Blame

Modern politics is arguing about issues rather than solving them. Intractable problems are the gifts that keeps giving. Immigration is the ideal subject, in both Europe and the US. How desperate is the discussion of whether Kamala Harris is Indian or Black?

I found myself on an email list from the Conservative party. It must have been a consequence of registering my daughter to vote, because the messages were addressed to her. I stuck with them to keep an eye on the election campaign.

The emails have not stopped. Within a fortnight of the vote I was receiving messages from Rishi Sunak. The Conservatives would be holding Labour to account. A couple of thousand immigrants had entered the country since the election.

When Jeremy Hunt emailed to say he hadn’t left the country’s finances in a mess, it was time to unsubscribe. The agenda is set for the next five years. Holding to account is the latest excuse to ferment disquiet. Of course the opposition is there to oppose, but isn’t its role to question what is coming, not reopen old wounds?

Political parties are private. They may organise as they see fit and change the rules whenever it suits them. They must appeal to the populace once in a while, but this is a means of keeping score rather than a purpose. The mission is to survive.

It suits the Conservative party to take its time selecting a new leader. The party is humbled and must be seen to repent and renew. A prolonged leadership campaign is its answer. Yet the contestants call for unity and already claim to know why the election was lost. Let’s see how deep the soul searching goes.

It suits the Democrats to anoint Harris without debate. Their advantage is incumbency. A renewed primary would undermine this, expose divisions and exhaust precious campaign finances. Far better to fill the coffers ahead of November’s showdown.

Neither Conservative nor Democrat are undemocratic. Party procedures have little to do with democracy and are the rules of a members only club. Democracy is the ability to kick the rotters out once in a while. The UK has had that opportunity and America will decide soon. Then it will be back to the perpetual name and blame show.

Neighbourhoods We Deserve

The lure of the Siren’s voice is nothing new. In Greek legend, Odysseus ordered his crew to block their ears and bind him to the mast, so he might know the song and not be drawn to his doom. How might we resist those who manipulate our basest instincts?

Our household is watching the Olympics. The evening show runs into the news, which has played more often of late. We’ve realised the importance of turning it off. I have been largely news sober for several years and do not intend to fall off the wagon.

Some search for independent media. However well intentioned, these stations cannot survive without attention. The best way to attract it is to pick a side and promote a controversy. Where there is commercial interest, there is a need for money and that follows eyeballs.

When we must face the news then ask the question “Why am I reading this now?”. On TV, query why the pictures accompany a story. We are not searching for the axe that grinds but to understand the context in which the news is presented. This process diffuses our fight or flight response and engages our thinking brain.

We must get out among our local communities. Pick up litter that you didn’t drop. Contribute to a foodbank and volunteer to distribute the bounty. Support local businesses whenever you can.

Deep down I despise the local traffic schemes. It is not the lack of choice or the virtue signalling, but rather the destruction of community shopping that forces us into our cars to drive to chain stores. Big business manipulates the green agenda for its own ends. The politicians on both sides use it to attack their common enemy, the autonomy of community.

If you want to be political then consider local engagement. There are a handful of councils across the country where a majority of independents determine outcomes. The parties are pushed to the side-lines to brood and plot.

I have toyed with joining the local church. I am not religious, but admire the community spirit that binds people together. There is a body of work among social scientists that equates the decline in religion with the rise of political polarisation.

We demand an emotional outlet and nature abhors a vacuum. There is good reason authoritarian states on the left outlaw religion and on the right co-opt it. Either way, politics means control and perpetuation of the narrative.

As religious affinity dwindles, the remaining adherents become more radical. Abortion was not a contentious issue when over 70% of Americans were members of a church. It is now they number less than half. Church attendance by state maps neatly to the US political divide.

The correct response to the top-down attempt to control us through manipulation of our emotions is to stop. Take a breath before responding, engage your system two brain and understand the purpose of the provocation is to provoke. And support your community.

A wise man once said to me “We get the neighbourhood we deserve”. It’s time to fight, but in the most civil, deferential and British of ways.