Defying Gravity

Ben Wildsmith

I was at a political discussion evening on Tuesday, and it was clear that people are finding the politics of 2025 difficult on a personal level.

The tonal deterioration that accelerated during the Brexit campaign and continued through its rancorous aftermath has taken a toll on everybody who is engaged with current affairs.

For those of us who experienced at least the end of the postwar consensus, binary opposition in all matters is a frightening prospect.

There was a carefulness to politics when the World War II generation was still active in national life. Their collective memory of conflict demanded a seriousness from those in charge of nations. Bellicose rhetoric was anathema to people who had seen the awful reality behind its brash appeal.

With the passing of a voting bloc that had experienced total war, we lost the ballast that kept our affairs manageable.

The riches of civilization: free speech, democracy, the rule of law, are the products of agreement.

Tyranny

Without an acceptance of our opponents’ decency, we descend into barbarism or tyranny and none of these things are possible.

That seems to be our current direction and, most worryingly, a consensus seems to be forming that nothing can reverse it.

At every turn, it seems that the forces of division are winning. The nuances of policy have become irrelevant as we are all forced, often against our interests, into one camp or the other.

Attachment to a side in this sort of politics has less to do with policy than it does identity. Policies, of course, can be held up to accountability, whilst identity is malleable and open to manipulation.

Reform UK made a policy commitment earlier this week that illustrates how abstract its appeal is. Richard Tice announced that the party would be imposing taxes on renewable energy firms with the aim of recouping all subsidies that have historically been granted to the sector. The receipts would allow for the complete abolition of inheritance tax.

Dissatisfaction

At Tuesday’s discussion, the prospects for Reform UK in the South Wales Valleys was a hot topic. Those of us who live there could confirm that support for the party seems to be growing and that angry dissatisfaction with Labour is more apparent than it used to be.

Reform UK’s appeal isn’t simple to explain. There are policies, such as raising the threshold for income tax, that are designed to appeal to traditionally Labour areas.

The rest of the party’s offering, however, seems to address the concerns, real and imagined, of wealthy, English voters.

The latest policy announcement is a case in point. Whilst a minute number of Valleys voters will benefit from abolishing inheritance tax, everybody has seen the alarming effects of unpredictable weather patterns in the area. Only last month, parts of Porth and Pontypridd were submerged with Huw Irranca-Davies seeming to suggest that they were beyond remedial action.

If we are surrendering people’s homes because of ongoing climate concerns, then punitive taxes against renewable energy would seem contrary to local interests.

It is safe to assume that specific policy offers are not what is driving the apparent shift in voter intention from Labour to Reform.

Neglect

It may well be that decades of neglect have resulted in a state of permanent revolt by a section of the electorate that feels overlooked and disrespected by all the traditional parties. So, just as the Brexit vote seemed, on the surface, to be self-defeating in communities that were net recipients of EU funds, so support for a party founded and run by stockbrokers and property magnates seems to be less a matter of active enthusiasm than generalised revulsion at the way things are.

To reach for a metaphor, aside from core supporters, Reform’s new voters are banging their heads against the wall because anything is a relief from the endless dull ache of Labour complacency in constituencies the party seems to consider its property by right.

During a period when politicians feel safe to approach their jobs without seriousness, the electorate is following suit. As the drums of war beat ever more insistently around the world, we may be dragged back into gravity whether we like it or not.