Tag Archives: anti-woke

Are we part of ‘the Deep State’?

If you have been reading reviews of Liz Truss’s self-justifying new book, you’ll know that she was defeated as Prime Minister by the sinister forces of the bureaucratic deep state. Michael Gove has for years called the same phenomenon ‘the blob’.  Others on the populist and irrational right call this ‘the liberal conspiracy.’  In the House of Lords some weeks ago, Peter Lilley began to attack the ‘liberal conspiracy’ that was preventing honest Conservatives from following ‘the will of the people’, and became almost incoherent when our benches began to laugh.  He clearly believes that these conspiratorial forces are real, and powerful.  How many of those in the Telegraph and Mail and on social media who write profusely about this actually believe in what they allege, as opposed to using it as a convenient way to attack ‘the Guardianistas’ and the reasoned consensus, is hard to tell.  But there’s no doubt that the message does convince some of its listeners that democratic institutions are biased against them, and that only their populist heroes can represent the pure people against the corrupt establishment – to which you and I all, according to them, belong.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 36 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Jeff
    North Sea gas is sold at international prices… Natural gas is mostly consumed in the country where it’s extracted. Around 20% is exported across b...
  • Mick Taylor
    Far too many people are being taken in by claims of high taxation. When I started work in the late 60s the basic rate of income tax was 33% and the top rate (s...
  • Jana
    @Tim Roger’s “ The gas will not stay in the ground because Norway will take their share and then ours” Excellent point. I haven’t read that argument...
  • Jana
    “ First, we need to be clear about the difference between constitutional democracy – or liberal democracy – and popular democracy” I don’t agree th...
  • theakes
    Judging from yesterdays results, 3 Conservative gains, it now seems pretty clear that they are back. Surely we have to adopt a different approach. There is a vo...