First it was Giorgia Meloni and now it is Geert Wilders, painted by the BBC and other media organisations as ‘extreme right-wing politicians’ – i.e. persona non grata.
There is something laughably squint about this sort of reporting; extreme left-wing political parties that are, arguably far less respectful of democratic norms and human rights, never appear to suffer similar levels of opprobrium.
However, all the hand wringing that greeted Ms Meloni’s premiership has largely melted away, and I suspect that the same will apply should Mr Wilders be able to form a government.
Our principle media outlets like to paint these people as extreme right wingers who have duped their voters into falling for their distorted view of the world. However, they never ask why the voters have switched from supporting the parties that have held sway for many years in both Italy and last week in the Netherlands. They don’t ask why Marine Le Pen is popular in France, Orban in Hungary, VOX in Spain, and the AFD is growing in popularity in Germany.
I suspect the reason is the same as why they misreported Brexit: they neither understand nor want to understand, because in understanding they would be forced to admit the futility of much of what they themselves stand for.
Those of us who believe in national sovereignty, institutions such as monarchy, independent judiciary, parliament, Common Law, Habeas Corpus etc could see a creeping loss of all we value with continued EU membership. For the UK, not being a member of the Euro meant it was relatively easy to leave.
Imagine being Dutch or Italian, where the Government you elected is dictated to by an unaccountable bureaucracy, compelled to reduce the number of cows or accept more migrants. You are helpless to do anything other than vote for a party that says it will stand up for you against the faceless EU bureaucracy. For democracy to work, people must feel that their views are heard and addressed. However, we live in an age where Governments are keen to virtue signal by signing binding international agreements. Done without thought to the future, nor the potentially enormous impact on their citizens’ way of life; and all without permission from the electorate. We are seeing this here as more people begin to understand the full implications of the UK promise to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
We at least have the ability to demand and force our politicians to sort this out, an option denied our friends in the EU, who are waking up to the reality that the politicians they elect have a diminishing amount of power to do anything.
The move to untried political parties on the right in many EU countries is a cry form large sections of the population to have their concerns heard. So far, like the BBC and others, the EU grandees don’t appear to want to ask why voters don’t like their policies and instead double down on pushing them through.
Voters can see the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of the Davosman view of the world pushed by Governments and international institutions, and they want someone to listen to them. I very much hope that Wilders, Meloni and the other democratic right-wing leaders will be able to deliver for their voters. If they are stopped by the EU and other international bureaucracies, then I suspect those that fill the vacuum will be less keen on working within a democratic framework.
There is a tendency within the political classes to shutdown arguments rather than address the concerns of voters. We continue to see this with Covid: anyone questioning the efficacy or safety of the vaccines is brushed off by assertions that they saved many lives. Anyone who questions aspects of Net Zero and climate change groupthink is branded a climate denier and hounded by the mob. Yet, when politicians behave like this the silent ‘little people’ get ever more suspicious that they are having the wool pulled over their eyes. Over and over, we hear assertions made by our leaders on these and other subjects that we know, from our own experience are false, and that makes us wonder what other rubbish they are telling us.
Passing laws to try and restrict support for ‘undesirable’ parties, as has recently happened in Germany, will be found ultimately to be counter-productive.
For democracy to work, voters have to feel that they are in control; when they feel powerless, they start looking for alternatives to deliver on their behalf. The ultimate end to this process is dictatorship, which is not where most people want to be. Sadly, if voters’ wishes and needs are not addressed they will employ ever more extreme ways of trying to be heard and the niceties of democratic institutions become expendable.
Alastair MacMillan runs White House Products Ltd, a manufacturer, distributor and exporter of hydraulic components to over 100 countries. He is a supporter of the Jobs Foundation.
If you enjoy The New Conservative and would like to support our work, please share this piece with your friends, or consider buying us a coffee – it would really help to keep us going. Thank you!
