Is Right Wrong?

by Rab Bruce’s Spider

 

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Whether you call it Right Wing Extremism, Oligarchy or Fascism, there is no doubt that the movement is seriously on the rise across the world. It is actually fairly easy to see why this is happening because the past decades of more centrist government was superseded by neo-liberal capitalism which has created a situation of extreme social inequality. Some people will argue that there have always been rich and poor, and that nothing can be done about this. It is certainly true that there have always been rich and poor, but the post-WW2 years demonstrated, in the UK at least, that something could be done about it. With record numbers of houses built and the creation of the NHS, the poorest in society could see that things were improving, with better standards of living and far greater social mobility available to all. That impetus, however, was eventually lost, and anyone who lived through the 1970s can testify to the social problems which afflicted the UK. Those problems swept Maggie Thatcher to power, and the rise of capitalism and privatisation ensued. And you only need to look at the state of the English Water companies and rail services to see how that turned out.

 

So people are dissatisfied with how things are being run, and the Right Wing provides them with enemies to focus their anger on, while offering to change things. However, much like Labour’s “Change” slogan in the 2024 General Election, it is never made quite clear what change is being promised except that it will involve blaming foreigners for pretty much everything.

 

But what are these Right Wing promises worth? Let’s take a look at a few examples. In the UK, Brexit is the obvious choice. The brexiteers made many promises, especially to the fishing and farming industries, and it is probably fair to say that the UK’s fishermen and farmers have been badly let down. The list of promises is lengthy, and all of them have been broken. Yet, while some prominent Brexiteers have been largely sidelined in UK politics, Nigel Farage continues to spread his particular brand of vileness, and his Reform Party which somehow manages to be portrayed as a political party while actually being a Limited Company owned by Mr Farage, continues to gain support. Many on the Left are baffled by this, but we often forget that the wider public takes little interest in the details of politics, and the media have backed Nigel Farage so much that his message is striking a chord. The main point of concern here is why so many people have fallen for it in light of all his past broken promises. If they think he can deliver change, they are probably right, but it won’t be the type of change they expect.

 

So what can you expect if you elect a Right Wing Government? Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are some examples to look at.

 

Brazil tried it and regretted it so much that they kicked the incumbents out at the first opportunity. Hungary tried it and has stuck with it so far, although there is a growing opposition, with tales of venality and corruption at the heart of government.

 

In Argentina, their Right Wing President is being credited with stabilising the currency, but levels of poverty have increased dramatically and, once again, there are allegations of the rich becoming richer while the ordinary people suffer.

 

And in Turkey, we hear much the same. The levels of child poverty there are now being reported as on a par with the UK. Turkey, to be fair, has some unique problems of its own given its geographical location, but whether things have improved for the majority of the population is highly debatable.

 

The UK also put up with a Right Wing Government for 14 years, and saw, unsurprisingly, huge levels of cronyism, corruption and blatant disregard for the lives of ordinary people. The UK electorate does love Right Wing Governments, but even they saw the folly of continuing with the Tories. Which makes the current enthusiasm for Reform even more baffling, because examples from around the world, allied to Nigel Farage’s known history of doing very little work for his constituents while claiming large amounts in expenses was well documented when he was an MEP, and his work ethic doesn’t seem to have changed very much considering how rarely he turns up in Clacton.

 

The overarching point with Right Wing Governments is that they always seem to result in the rich becoming richer while everyone else gets poorer. I’m fairly sure that we will see the same result in the USA once Donald Trump seizes power again. As an aside to that, I should say that fear of nuclear war has been present throughout my life. For most of that time, the focus was on the USSR and Russia. Now, it seems, it is the USA we need to fear. Donald Trump is already threatening Canada, Panama and Greenland. His rhetoric can be viewed as delusional sabre-rattling, but I can’t dispel the notion that, once in command of the world’s greatest military might, he is going to want to use that power to expand America’s borders. That is a very scary thought indeed, and I sincerely hope that a little bit of sanity will prevail.

 

But, to get back to the issue of wealth inequality which always seems to increase once Right Wing Governments take charge, I recall a conversation I had with a friend in the run-up to the 2014 IndyRef. He’s not rich, but he’s well off, with a good job, good pay and a nice house. One of the things he was worried about if Yes won was that he would lose most of that in a socialist-inspired wealth redistribution programme. I tried to convince him that the idea was not to take everything from the wealthy but to take just a little bit more and so provide funds to help the less well off. Sadly, the “Me First” culture which was pushed so hard for years took its toll. Like many others, the fear of being £10 per week worse off was enough to convince him to vote No even though he could easily have afforded it. Yet, ten years later, he is significantly more worse off than that. Worse, everyone except the rich are worse off. The money has not gone to help raise social standards but has flowed upwards at a quite alarming rate. It is one thing to pay more if you know the money is being well spent; it is quite another to be worse off and see nothing except a decline in social services.

 

I hope that anyone who has managed to read this far has made the same connection. Voting for the Right Wing extremists does not make your life better. It makes their lives better, but you won’t see anything except a decline in the purchasing power of your income and a dreadful decline in the level of social services. If that’s what you want, by all means support Reform, the Tories or Keir Starmer’s Labour, but please don’t say nobody warned you. The signs are there for all to see. Their solution to every problem is to target the least well off while leaving the wealthy alone.

 

As ever, Scotland has a way out of this. Our social model has always been more egalitarian than the rest of the UK. What is blocking us now is a seeming lack of political will on the part of our own Government. I just hope that John Swinney’s quiet approach, introducing more social measures via Budgets and policies will persuade the Scottish electorate that there is another way. Given the rise in support for Reform, and with the media very much opposed to providing the public with any good news about Scotland, that’s going to be a tough ask no matter how many good policies the Scottish Government introduces. Sadly, time is running out, and the dangers of sticking with the UK need to be highlighted as often and as loudly as possible. If we don’t become a normal, self-governing country soon, we may all end up like people in other nations who elected Right Wing Governments; regretting our choice.