UK Voters Poised To Land A Blow Against Populism – OpEd

By Mohamed Chebaro

The UK is expected to experience a new beginning this week. Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, who is often seen as “uncharismatic,” bordering even on “boring” as far as a large chunk of the electorate is concerned, is likely to become the new prime minister and will form the new UK government following Thursday’s general election.

As a result, Britain and its people will, after 14 years of being governed by a right-leaning Conservative Party dominated by populist rhetoric, get the change they have been craving. If nothing else, they will be led by a serious person, one who is willing to serve and is ready to put the country before himself and his political party, as he has often repeated.

This would be quite refreshing for the British electorate after the many years of chaos under the Conservative Party, its austerity, its Brexit built on lies and its toxic, self-serving politics that have eroded trust in politicians, the system and even democracy.

Yet, be warned, the UK, like its neighbors on the European continent and across the Atlantic, will not be immune from a resurgence of populism or the far right for long. Amid economic stagnation, depleted state finances and the country’s borrowing being maxed out, while the demands of the people continue to grow, any government could find itself unable to please those who elected it. That is why it is imperative for the next government to try to end the “conspiracy of silence,” as no one has been talking about Brexit, taxation or the true cost of governing a country, funding its welfare state and meeting the aspirations of its people in the months preceding the election.

Politics is brutal, as Starmer surely knows, and he has to walk a very fine line to keep those who elected him on board. By breaking that conspiracy of silence, through telling people the truth, he might quickly fall out of favor compared to those populists and far-right firebrands who are always willing to offer people various fantasies and tell them what they want to hear.

It is here that the future of democracy may hang. How many of us would be willing to pay more tax in order to pay for essential services? How many Brits are ready to admit that Brexit delivered a bad blow to the economy? And how many are capable of trimming their expectations to make ends meet?

No one will envy Starmer, as he is likely to inherit a country with a long and urgent to-do list. Will he and his team be able to shrewdly find the money to stabilize the ship, redress some government failures, shorten hospital queues, find new doctors and new nurses, improve dilapidated schools, reform the justice system and hire more police officers? Will he be able to lessen the burden on struggling families as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, reform the immigration system, broker a new deal with the EU, Britain’s closest trading partner, and still manage to ensure the security of the nation in an ever more volatile world? This is a tall order to expect from any leader.

But Starmer has put himself forward and claims to be the man to bring about the changes that are needed. The question will be: is the electorate ready to play ball? UK society has, for decades, been living beyond its means. Public debt is slowly approaching the 100 percent of gross domestic product mark, although France fares even worse at above 110 percent of GDP. These are highs that nations could reach in times of conflict, for example, when meeting the burden of financing a war. But those debt levels are expected to rise even further if the state is to continue to deliver for a demographic that is aging, living longer and demanding more from the welfare state.

Instead, most people — and not just in the UK — have forgotten how to sacrifice today in order to build a better tomorrow. Selfish individualism is replacing the commonality that made the UK tick and prosper in the past. Building railways — such as the now watered-down HS2 project, the high-speed rail network that was supposed to link north and south — remains vital if the UK is to grow more in a decade or two. Investing in education and training should be high on the politicians’ agenda, so that the nation can be self-sufficient instead of relying on foreign nurses and doctors.

Building and maintaining a nation state requires tough choices, both by politicians and the people. Over the past decade, Britain has been entertained by its politicians and the crowd has been equally guilty for applauding them instead of holding them to account.

Labour has promised to change all that and to bring decency back into politics, but is the electorate ready to give the party a chance and equally to learn to live within its means, relearning how to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow? I am not sure.

Thursday’s election is likely to produce a new leadership, a new government and a new chance to rebuild state and society after the battering years of Conservative governments. The new government is likely to occupy the center ground again, in a world that is lurching further right everyday, from France to the US. A serious, sober form of government led by Starmer — unlike the theatrics Britain has been used to under the Tories — could offer a chance to fix the many broken wheels in politics, the economy and society, despite the adversities that could plague the demarches of the new government both domestically and internationally.

• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He is also a media consultant and trainer.