Recently, a committee of MP’s investigating the allegation of “fake news” used by the Leave campaign, found that the public had been specifically targeted and lied to. They were created by Canadian company Aggregate AIQ, who targeted people on Facebook about jobs, the NHS or animal welfare, or their prejudices on immigration. Essentially, these adverts were misrepresentations, fabrications and outright lies to convince people to vote leave in the 2016 referendum. They included the infamous £350m a week for the NHS, or Turkey joining the EU, or “We need an immigration system that ensures British young people more jobs”. The wording was vague on context but specific on action; however, it was lacking in truth. This is typical rhetoric of the far-right.
There is an environment where the far-right, fascist succeed. It is when people feel forgotten, undervalued and left without a positive outlook for the future. It is often created by either personal or national economic struggles, or the delusions of a golden age when things were better; often they were not. What drove people to vote against the EU; which had helped the UK develop the second strongest economy in Europe, and fifth in the world?
David Cameron’s Austerity programme, which from 2010 saw massive cuts in the welfare state, caused financial ruin for so many people. They ranged dramatically depending on location, for example; in Blackpool a reduction in welfare of £900, whereas in the City of London a lesser £100 (Independent, Thiemo Fetzer). Local authority spending dropped by 46% in some areas. There was a big difference in regions; between those that are more deprived and generally experience a lower rate of pay, against wealthier areas, with a higher average income. Looking objectively at the figures, it shows that where people felt like they had been left behind by the state, they were more likely to Vote Leave. Conservative austerity has led to an enormous rise in the number of foodbanks; over a million three-day emergency food supplies were delivered within a year (Trussel Trust). The number of over 60’s who are now homeless has risen by 40% since 2013 (The Big Issue). Recently, a cross-party group of MPs’ has warned up to 3 million children will go hungry over the school summer holidays (The Guardian). The Conservative’s Austerity programme created a desperate environment for those with the least, who were bombarded with fake news and propaganda, through social media campaigns, simple slogans falsely explaining complex matters and the targeting of adverts. Between austerity and propaganda, the referendum result of 2016 happened.
Referendums in the United Kingdom are not legally binding, they are advisory. As confirmed by Supreme Court Judge Lady Hale. The advisory referendum result has been deemed “the will of the people”, which is a fallacy. The seed was planted in a time of desperation for many under the Conservative Party’s austerity. It was fed by far-right propaganda, which aimed to convince people to abandon logic, and was authenticated as “legal” by a blind Parliament, who are more concerned about popularity than their constituents’ futures.
The committee backed-up the findings of the Electoral Commission, that Vote Leave broke electoral law. What does this mean for our democracy? As discussed, referendums are not legally binding. The effect on democracy is more about how the result came to pass. It is the putting aside of truth for a far-right delusion, where facts and constitutional law are ignored, when it does not fit Leave’s intentions. The cruel environment created by austerity, along with far-right lies and targeted adverts have led the UK down this path of self-destruction. Will democracy survive if major campaigns can tell outright lies and use “fake news” propaganda to secure a victory, and get away with it? Are we at a point in Britain when logic and legality are secondary to the overbearing shouts of the far-right, who’s proven lies are accepted under the misguided notion of the will of the people?
Has Tory austerity reduced the deficit, or has it merely caused a referendum result, which will create a far greater economic catastrophe, than the pre-2010 debt? The irony should not be lost on you. The head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney has said Britain’s economy has experienced the slowest growth in the world since the referendum result. Does this time, marked in history, prove that when you reduce spending on critical areas of social standards, it leads to nothing but national disasters? Austerity and far-right propaganda are a dangerous combination in a democracy.
“My father told me that our democracy is very fragile, but it is a people’s democracy, both as strong and as great, as the people can be, but it is also as fallible as the people are. And that’s why good people have to be actively engaged in the process, sometimes holding democracy’s feet to the fire, in order to make it a better, truer democracy.” George Takei
Opinions of a Snowflake 