I’m with the establishment
I appreciate that in the grand scheme of things the outcome of Thursday’s Clacton-on-Sea by-election matters not a jot but I can’t deny that I’ve loved every twist-and-turn of the last couple of weeks. It’s a given that Niggled-Nige will bring home the bitcoin-bacon but it’s been a delight to witness the writhing and wiggling of an increasingly peeved, thin-skinned politician hoisted by his own petard.
Farage promised us a “people versus the establishment” battle that would stick “two-fingers” up to his critics. The man himself, and his friends, continually define themselves as the ‘anti-establishment’ but exactly who, or what, are the so-called establishment? Are you, am I, or have we ever been a member of such an august body? This is the one question to which, it appears, no-one – princes, party leaders, prime ministers – can ever bring themselves to answer ‘yes’.
Nigel Farage, privately educated multimillionaire and former city stockbroker sees the establishment as the enemy and is certainly not part of it. Honest Bobbie Jenrick, a privately educated, baronial manor-living, former Tory minister, is definitely not part of it. Tony Blair says he’s “not a great one for the establishment”. When Prince Harry lost an appeal last year, he described the court’s ruling as “a good old-fashioned stitch-up”. With so many on the outside, can there be anyone left on the inside?
May I help in defining the difference between the two?
The establishment includes those who believe that rules, the truth, honesty and manners matter. The anti-establishment believes that rules should be ignored or bent whenever and wherever possible. Lies and untruths rule the world with hyperbole and exaggeration trouncing logic and rationale. The establishment recognises that governing involves hard choices and that politics therefore requires careful debate and compromise. The anti-establishment denies that government is complicated, and believes that impulse and gut-instinct are better than informed discussion and measured, collective agreement. The establishment includes the mainstream media of most persuasions, business leaders, the civil service, trade unions, the academic and think-tank world, and more. The anti-establishment consists of rich individuals, mostly men, who claim a unique, almost-telepathic understanding of ordinary people but do not share any of their wealth with them. When historians look back, the Clacton by-election will tell them everything they need to know: the ‘people’ are represented by a grifting charlatan who thinks a #5m gift is completely normal and openly bellows “it’s none of the public’s business!” whilst the ‘establishment’ is represented by Count Binface. Go figure.
