Enemies of the People

Now, amidst a media storm following the announcement of the High Court judgement requiring the government to obtain the consent of Parliament before triggering the start of the brexit negotiations, the foreign-owned right wing tabloid press accuse High Court judges of being enemies of the people for protecting parliamentary sovereignty. But even  Nigel Farage has agreed that the brexit referendum  was only advisory and not legally binding and so it needs a formal legal process, in the form of an Act of Parliament, to confirm it. 

What are we seeing here: ignorance, stupidity, arrogance, doublethink, or the first steps on the road to authoritarian rule by editors of the tabloids behind their chosen right wing leaders? In choosing their headline in 2016 did the Daily Mail deliberately intend to use the tactics of the Nazis in 1933?

What do they want, an executive who can overrule parliament when it suits them, or when the unelected tabloid press want them to?

They claim that brexit means taking back sovereignty from the EU but what sort of sovereignty? The UK is a parliamentary democracy which was established over centuries through hard fought battles between Parliament and the King, including a bloody civil war in which many died. But the tabloids, by launching personal attacks on the judges who supported the supremacy of Parliament, appear to want to throw out all that in favour of government by referendum and executive decree. 

It’s a dangerous road to start down. People don’t vote in referendums because they've made a careful evaluation of the facts. They vote from their emotional instincts and they are easily whipped up by populist politicians who invent lies to support their case and pour scorn on experts. But then the tabloids know this because they were part of it during the brexit campaign, as were some government ministers!

And why are ministers silent concerning the hysterical reaction of the tabloids? Could it be that they are scared of the damage that they could suffer as a result of challenging them, or is it because the tabloids are favouring the government’s position?

It’s in the nature of executive power to want total control and that’s why any democracy has checks and balances built into it, like an independent judiciary and a second chamber in Parliament. If you undermine these safeguards you are facilitating the would-be populist leaders who don't tolerate opposition or reasoned discussion.

Both the government and the tabloids should remember that 48% voted Remain and that the 52% who voted Leave does not represent an overwhelming mandate in favour of a hard brexit. Brexiteers, by talking up their case in this way, like May did at the Tory conference, or the right wing press is now doing, are likely to provoke a backlash. Perhaps the High Court judgement is the trigger.

This whole episode is yet another example of the press exerting power without responsibility “the prerogative of the harlot down the ages”!