by Rab Bruce’s Spider

A few months ago, I was discussing politics with some Unionist pals who roundly slated me for expressing the opinion that Donald Trump and Theresa May are, essentially, Fascists. This was based on my definition of a Fascist as someone who believes in an extreme Right Wing authoritarian form of Government with strong nationalistic and xenophobic tendencies.

But whether you agree with that definition, or the assessment of both Trump and May meeting the criteria, is not really the point. the issue is that the political leadership in both the USA and UK has displayed increasingly Right Wing tendencies, and people take their lead from the politicians. There can be no doubt that Trump has enabled the Alt Right in America. His unwillingness to condemn the overt displays of Fascism have provided further encouragement, and it is difficult to see how this trend can be halted as long as he remains President.

George Orwell wrote that, when it arrived in England (yes, he said England, not Britain), Fascism would be of a more sedate and subtle kind. Fascism does not need jackboots, black shirts and swastikas to proclaim itself. Things are not yet as bad here, but we should not forget that Theresa May was responsible for sending vans around the streets with signs telling foreigners to go home. Her Government are actively deporting hundreds of non-UK nationals, and Brexit, which she is pursuing vigorously if incompetently, is encouraging thousands more to leave. The promotion of UKIP by the BBC has ensured that the Tory Party has continued its move to the Right ever more rapidly, with the result that hate crimes in England have increased to an alarming degree. It may not be outright Fascism yet, but it is definitely heading that way.

How can this be stopped? Fascists love confrontation on the streets. It allows them to play the victim card when violence erupts, just as we have seen in Charlottesville this week. Yet ignoring them will not make them go away either. The best way to defeat them is at the ballot box but we have missed our chance for at least another five years – unless May’s Government collapses which looks unlikely now that she has bribed the DUP – another extreme Right Wing group – into backing her.

The one thing that will help is if every political leader stopped trying to score petty political points and spoke out unequivocally against this sort of behaviour. Whether we like it or not, our political leaders set the tone, and all of them must act or we will be doomed to repeat the tragic mistakes of the past.