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East Anglia Bylines

Our government is killing democracy by a thousand cuts

The government saying one thing and doing the opposite is beyond hypocrisy. It is a deliberate subversion of the concept of liberal democracy.

Russell JacksonbyRussell Jackson
May 3, 2022
in Party politics, Politics, UK
Reading Time: 6 mins
A A
Boris Johnson and his cabinet.

Boris Johnson and his cabinet. Number 10 via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Let’s take a closer look at some of the foundational ideological positions that the Conservatives publicly claim to support, and how their actions and policies all too often run in complete and total contradiction to them.

They claim to support free speech – but criminalise protest, and control what charities can say and do publicly in the 12-month run-up to elections.

They claim to be against ‘red tape’ – but gave Ukrainian asylum-seekers a 100-page form to complete.

They claim to support a ‘free press’ – but support, appease and fear foreign billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who owns swathes of the UK right-wing media; non-dom billionaire Jonathan Harmsworth, who owns the Daily Mail; and non-dom billionaire Frederick Barclay who owns the Telegraph.

They claim to support democracy – but removed the independence of the Electoral Commission, introduced Voter ID, disenfranchising up to three million voters despite just eight cases of in-person voter fraud, and place donors into roles leading some of Britain’s institutions such as the BBC.

They claim to support the rule of law – but unlawfully prorogued parliament, introduced legislation enabling the government to overrule judicial review findings that challenge their agenda, unlawfully broke the COVID rules, and unlawfully sent untested people into care homes.

They claim to support human rights – but have announced plans to radically undermine them.

They claim to support the NHS – but they have strong links to private healthcare providers, and in 2019/20 NHS commissioners spent £9.7 billion on services delivered by the private sector.

They claim that free-market capitalism drives standards up – but since Brexit, food, animal welfare, and safety standards have fallen.

They claim to represent the ‘will of the people’ – but go against the wishes of 96 percent of respondents to a consultation about the future of Channel 4.


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They claim to believe in mutual respect & tolerance of others – but relentlessly demonise as “woke”, ‘activist lawyers’, academics, doctors, teachers, the BBC, the RNLI, the National Trust, and anyone offering a balanced view of the British Empire, or treating asylum seekers fairly.

They claim to believe in social mobility and ‘levelling up’ – but they disproportionately cut funding to non-Tory councils & local authorities, and allowed the wealth of Britain’s richest 1,000 people to increase by half a trillion pounds since 2009.

They claim to be the party of low taxation – but announced tax rises worth 2 percent of GDP in just two years – the same as Tony Blair & Gordon Brown did in ten.

They claim to be patriotic – but refused to condemn supporters booing the England team.

They claim Britain is a kind and welcoming country – but go against international refugee conventions and international law to unlawfully and immorally send asylum seekers to one of the most authoritarian & anti-democratic countries on earth.

They claim to be against ‘cancel culture’ – but introduced legislation which means journalists can be jailed for up to 14 years for stories embarrassing the government.

They claim to be about decency and integrity – but constantly lie to the British people, demonise non-Tory politicians and public figures with grotesque smears, knowingly misled parliament often and are serial breakers of the Ministerial Code.

They claim to be the party of family values – but they’re led by a serial sexist cheat with who-knows how many children, have multiple MPs embroiled in sexual harassment allegations, and now we hear No10 had a ‘sexist of the year‘ award at an unlawful xmas party.

They claim to be ‘tough’ on drugs and drug users, often announcing ‘crackdowns’ – but senior Tories have themselves used drugs: Boris Johnson has tried cocaine and cannabis; Hunt, Leadsom, Raab, Hancock & McVey all smoked cannabis; Rory Stewart, opium; & Michael Gove – cocaine.

Finally, they claim to – and are supposed to – act in the interests of all the British people – but they prioritise the interests of their wealthy – often Russian oligarch – donors and focus almost exclusively on appeasing the 29 percent of the total UK electorate who voted for them in 2019.


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Russell Jackson

Russell Jackson

Dr Russell Jackson is a parent, activist, sociologist and senior lecturer in communication & public relations at Sheffield Hallam University, in the department of media arts and communication. He teaches and researches moral panics, the history of communication, and the power of public relations in neoliberal society. Originally a bricklayer from Darley Dale, he moved to Sheffield in 1986.

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