British politics is in a loop and it’s Farage’s vision that’s stuck on repeat | John Harris

AOften it happens, what Nigel Faraj said recently to South Wales, which deserves an endless alignment. It was ridiculous, waiver, half baked, opportunistic and easy. until he He does not seem to know exactly what he wants. At a press conference in the United Kingdom in Port Talbot, it seemed to be Make To reopen the son -in -law in the city, before admitting that “it might be easier to build a new one”, although he also admitted that he would “cost the low billions” to do so. But he had more surprising visions of the re -opened Welsh mines. Faraj said: “If you offer people good -wage jobs … Many will take them, although you have to accept that mining is dangerous,” Faraj said.

The climate crisis, expected, is not worth looking. He also did not provide any opinions on coal -related issues such as PilesThe slips of the earth, the rivers that work in black, and cannot be conceived Underground disasters. When asked about the location of a new pits, he frankly presented the opinion that he was “returning to geology.” This is true, somewhat, but he will definitely also think about thinking about Housing developments and Business gardens Which often sits on the top of all of these deserted charcoal layers.

The whole thing was – of course – politics at the level of the pub, but Faraj and his people know this. What matters is the resulting scene: the first British populist that suggests the “Ring” Wales, in the face of completely reasonable doubts, and the sarcasm and the explicit opposition from the voices that easily facilitated like the usual distant elites. In this sense, the visit was a victory, as it repeated a formula that works for a very long time.

In addition to the political skills of Varage, there are clear reasons for that. The first is to relate to the fact that the basic social and economic conditions fed by the UK’s Independence Party and the British exit referendum from the European Union is still unchanged. In fact, it seems that the year 2016 is forever: Britain is still a country of growth and productivity, continuous local austerity, stagnant wages and fear of the future. These circumstances explain the contempt of people who suffer from deeper for the prevailing politicians, and their knowledge that as life continues in circles, Westminster does not seem capable or ready to break the pattern.

Moreover, it appears that every dark rotation accompanied by extremist appearances is more than just a defect in the country. Our passage to a new political era used to have the results of elections and referendums. But recently, it seems as if to prove more vital to the place where we head through civil disorders. Last year, summer riots were a clear example. In the same week that witnessed the sentence Violence in SalfordWe have just seen horrific outbreaks from Racist In Northern Ireland, his Farage I showed opinions This follows his usual slippery text: “I only wonder whether it is not a deeper and broader problem. We saw something after Southport last year. You know what? If they had listened to me, none of this will happen.”

The question that has not been raised enough in the political press is what life is in contemporary Britain Feel He loves. The answer is partially due to a deep feeling of tension and constantly inherent fear that there is a terrible thing about to happen. Farage attracts supporters by presenting himself as an answer to this feeling – but for those who wear it, is its source. Like Donald Trump, this mixture makes him very large.

Likewise, his presence on social media – which, even if most politicians have not yet understood it, has changed what is required to be more radically successful public figure than TV did. Farage has 1.3 million followers Tiktok, as much as Every politician and Sketstter total. In particular, because Elon Musk is about Twitter to X, it is regularly cited and supported in the parallel news world that millions of people are now taking their information-full of rumors and interpretations of the incidents rooted in the laws that resemble law. This ecological system wipes in the Kabician version of Really X that provides a kind of mood music, and is represented by endless videos of violence and hostile models among the members of the public. All this fits Farage-FARAGE-REM- Applied.

Its main origins are to diagnose people’s problems that become simpler and more severe in the week: you are afraid and struggling, he and his allies tell him to the public, because the government spends a lot of money on foreigners and is full of distinguished and distinguished people who know nothing about pain. The mayor of the Greater Manchester Municipality, Andy Bornham recently Interview For the left magazine on the left, he contemplated the effective political communication now. He said that governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are working in a “world of differences”, but social media “has just ended all.” What he said after that seemed to be a quick answer to the reason for Faraj’s victory: The modern media outlets have, “The policy has changed, and the policy has not changed enough to reflect that … people want immediate opinions from elected actors. They want real opinions.”

Six weeks ago, I saw Farage wandering a wandering work in a neighborhood of Scunthorpe, surrounded by crowds of people wandering in taking pictures of him on their phones. Soon after its display on the Airfix tank, he commented that all the interest was “the benefit of being real, do you know what I mean?” Obviously, just like Boris Johnson in the best, a great deal of His personality – Clothes, loudspeakers, each calculated statement – is actually the effect and demonstration. But the policy is now very low on charisma and the common touch that seems to be comfortable in your skin looks like a kind of wonderful natural nature.

In this sense, the swings of other Starmer and Labor may be of the perfect Farage opponents. With a possible exception to Rainer, they are often blood and hesitant. They cling to the style of offers 20 years away, based on pre -news topics The proverb “Network”And the specific interviews, and the complex and abstract rhetoric: “missions”, “renewal”, the continuous chase of growth. Recently, the Prime Minister has tried the cross -out approximation of the Faraj approach, situation Such severe posts and boasting on the Internet: “I have already returned more than 24,000 people without the right to be here. I will not stop there.” But this style rings hollows, because it does not have the amazing Farage confidence or any understanding of how such a direct achieves the way he talks about the basics of the Labor Party: economics, jobs, public services.

There is also something that can be said about how the government intends to change the country. After a lost year, the spending review last week contained a sudden amount of good news, not the least of which is housing. But the whole thing is about the type of investment that will not start to become visible until 2028 or 2029. It seems that daily life will continue to move in circulating circles for another three or four years. This is a long time for Farage to continue the complexity, because it shows an aspect of modern Britain that he did not understand much-to some extent clearly shows the tremendous failures of others, looks like the only number in the front rank that understands how the policy of the twenty-first century works actually.

• John Harris is a guardian writer

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