Those who dislike policies such as controlling immigration, punishing criminals, opposing multi-culturalism or, the big one, leaving the European Union, refer to such policies as pandering to nationalism and populism. I have been asking myself just what these words mean.
For left wingers and others of a so-called liberal bent, nationalism is an evil which they equate with Nazism; for the liberal left, there is no distinction between refusing entry to illegal immigrants and shooting them. Anyone who supports what are referred to as right wing policies is automatically a
nationalist, therefore akin to a Nazi and hence unspeakably evil. This is, of course, utter rubbish but with the support of much of the media, it is a point of view that has gained traction.
Populism is the other great scourge, at least as far as the liberal left is concerned. For them, a mass call for the return of capital punishment, harsher penalties for criminals generally, strict controls on immigration and particularly leaving the European Union represents nothing but a populist uprising; by populist, they mean the baying of the uneducated, ill-informed and fanatical masses who, in the minds of the liberal left, are also right wing nationalists and, therefore, evil anyway.
In response to these assaults on their own view of the world, the liberal left bring masses of people onto the streets to protest. Their protests are always dressed up as being in support of some freedom or other, some 'just cause' such as saving the planet from climate change, or protecting the poor uneducated masses from the horrible policies of those nasty 'hard right' extremists.
Hold on.
Pursuing a policy that was voted for in a democratic process by more than 50% of the population, that is, one of leaving the European Union, is populist but bringing thousands of people onto the streets to cause mayhem and oppose the government isn't ? What is the pro-EU lobby if it isn't an attempt at a populist movement ? They shout about the claimed millions who have marched in protest against Brexit, but ignore the 17.4 million who actually did vote for it, dismissing them as uneducated, stupid and ill-informed while accusing those who now try to put the result into practice as, you guessed it, nationalists and populists.
Consider what would be said if the boot was on the other foot. What if the referendum had resulted in a vote to stay in the European Union, and that the anti-EU lobby had then set about protesting. Would anti-EU marchers have been met with the same forbearance ? I think not. The police, and army, would have been deployed to break up 'the mobs'; there would have been mass arrests and accusations of Nazism, Fascism and every other vaguely relevant '-ism that the liberal left could think of. The result of the referendum would have been hailed as a triumph for democracy and a defeat for the forces of nationalism and populism, by which the liberal left would really have meant the forces of anything of which they disapproved.
For 'populist', read anything that the liberal left doesn't like or agree with; anything it does promote is automatically good and, therefore, it's irrelevant whether it's populist or not. For 'nationalist', read any attempt to promote the interests of one's own country over those of any other; it is the traditional cry of socialists, for which the rest of we poor uneducated masses can read 'liberal left', who favour grand internationalist ventures and enterprises such as the European Union, levelled against those who oppose such things. That such enterprises are invariably bureaucratic, always ponderous, rarely tackle major issues effectively and always pander to the lowest common denominator is ignored.
The liberal left is always very quick to mobilise its forces and bring 'thousands' on to the streets to protest at whatever is the current perceived injustice. It does this regardless of how many may have voted, democratically, in support of whatever it is that the left doesn't like. It shouts its message from the rooftops and that message is then reported, most enthusiastically, by the left-leaning media as 'news'. Every attempt by the hated populists and nationalists to promote their interests is met with derision and cries of "Foul !"; whatever the liberal left does, however disruptive or undemocratic, is presented as being for the good of the people, the country, even the planet. How can anyone doubt them ?
Well, I not only doubt them, I despise them. The abominable masses led by Corbyn and McDonnell, Starmer and Abbot, and supported by a risible mishmash of fellow travellers made up of Sturgeon's Scottish Nationalists (there's a joke there somewhere), Swinson's dotty Lib Dems and the Greens who would have us all eating our socks rather than actual food, would deny us all self-determination in favour of the imposition of whatever mad, left wing schemes they currently support.
And so 'populism' and 'nationalism' mean whatever the users of such words want them to mean. They are words used by the liberal left to vilify their political opponents when it suits them and as arguments in support of their own schemes when that does. They are words that are flexible, malleable, able to be thrown at whatever target presents itself, their great advantage being that while sounding important and dramatic, they are essentially meaningless in the mouths of those with political intent.
If this reads like a rambling rant, it's because it is. I've had enough of the Brexit debate and want it to be over. I'm not a 'nationalist' or 'populist', I'm a democrat and I'm fed up with the whinging and whining, twisting and turning of the liberal left who will do and say anything to prevent our country from leaving the European Union and to gain power for themselves, even if that would leave them subservient to the corrupt bureaucracy in Brussels and with nothing but illusory power for themselves.
They must be opposed. Our representatives in parliament need to heed the voices of the millions who voted for Brexit and not the thousands who now protest against it. Deal or No Deal is not the issue, leaving the European Union on 31st October is.
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