The wrong lessons from history

Lord (Tim) Bell, who died recently, learned some of his techniques of presentation from that amoral master, Albert Speer. A whole generation of dictators or would-be dictators from Bolsonaro and Duterte through to Farage, Johnson and Trump have followed Hitler and Goebbels' technique of The Big Lie  while accusing their opponents of using it.

Now it seems that the Johnson is taking the next tentative step along the path mapped out by Hitler - and Napoleon before him. For months now, we have been softened up by media repetition that a narrow majority in a referendum based on false premises is more democratic than the deliberations of elected representatives in parliament, a system which has served us for hundreds of years, with continuous improvement over that time.

Let it be understood that proroguing a parliament in itself is not an outrage. If an administration needs to refresh its legislative programme, it is necessary to take a break and prepare a new Speech from the Throne. However, to do so now, and for an unprecendented length of time*, smacks of chicanery, to borrow a word from the government spin machine's own briefings**. Although primary legislation cannot be enacted, the government is going to be free to act executively for over a month. Over four weeks of bribes of the public funded by shifting money out of other worthier budgets (no new money can be raised during a prorogation).  Then we should expect a general election on a platform of "the people versus parliament" which may place referendums  on a regular footing.

What of course should have happened when a new prime minister with a radical new cabinet came to power was an immediate general election, backed by an extension of the EU withdrawal date, to validate the massive change of direction of this administration. One hopes that parliament when it returns on 3rd September has the guts to throw out this would-be dictator and agree on a government which will suspend Brexit and arrange a third referendum.


*Since the 1980s prorogation has rarely lasted longer than two weeks (and, between sessions during a Parliament, has typically lasted less than a week). [From the House of Commons briefing of June this year]

**"Chicanery" stuck out like a sore thumb in a recent interview of a MP opposed to Brexit by BBC Wales presenter recently.