Patriots who shout about their love of country daily announce their hatred of every British principle that might constrain them. The rule of law and sovereignty of parliament? The Mail echoed every totalitarian movement since the Jacobins and denounced judges as “enemies of the people” for ruling that Brexit couldn’t be triggered without the approval of parliament. Academic freedom? A government whip demanded universities tell him what lecturers were teaching about Brexit. The right of MPs to follow their conscience? Liberal Tories received death threats after the Telegraph called them “mutineers” for not obeying orders and thinking for themselves. Now the civil service is having its ethics besmirched and neutrality threatened. Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker accused it of plotting to undermine Brexit by producing needlessly pessimistic forecasts. The lie was so demonstrably false even Baker had to apologise. Tellingly, Rees-Mogg did not. Unnervingly, he may be our next prime minister. [...]
Far from holding back the growth of extremism, our leaders encourage it. The received wisdom holds that Theresa May does not know what she wants from Brexit. As my colleague Rafael Behr says, Mrs May has told us exactly what she wants. She wants Britain to walk away from the EU, its single market, customs union and courts, while retaining privileged access to its markets. The trouble with what she wants is not that she does not know it but that it’s impossible to achieve. [...]
For all the complacency, cowardice still comes at a price – even in Britain. The cowardice of May and Corbyn is preparing the ground for a nationalist reaction to Brexit’s inevitable disappointment. Millions will find they can’t have it all and look for someone to blame. It is not alarmist to imagine a rightwing government deflecting attention from its own culpability and using conspiracy theory to justify attacks on the independence of the judiciary, civil service and BBC. A far-left government would be as eager to assault all three and replace neutral men and women with forelock-tugging ideologues. No one, indeed, should be more grateful to Rees-Mogg and the Daily Mail than John McDonnell. They are providing the ammunition he may reach for in office.
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