The assumption that greater economic and social liberalism would pave the way to a new age of progress, prosperity and enlightenment now looks woefully mistaken. working-class people seek to revive the politics of belonging, place and community as an antidote to galloping globalisation and rapid demographic change. If you don't take people with you, if you haven't won hearts and minds, if you plough on stubbornly while millions of working-class voters are imploring you to hold back or change course, then you are asking for trouble. The past few years in Britain have been a lesson in what happens when an arrogant elite takes its hegemony for granted. Pathetic.īefore delving into the book, it's worth taking a moment to acknowledge the cover: as the heavily implied snobbiness that such an image brings out in some was (inadvertently) articulated by Caitlin Moran in her most recent book. Given that the same person accused me of working for Unherd, I think he’s done a great job in demonstrating the type of strawman arguments that get levelled at the likes of Embery and the paranoid outlook that causes such people to froth at the mouth when they read/hear something they disagree with. He's quite at home with the rest of the cranks that populate Unherd and the other fourth rate publications that give him endless publicity. Sincerely looking forward to months of journos telling me his reductive analysis is the deeply authentic expression of the ‘left behind’, though. Indeed, one person who claims to be an academic, wrote the following comment when I announced I was reviewing this book:Įmbery is the absolute embodiment of the worst kind of Sp!ked adjacent, authentocrat arsehole. But it is an example of how far the discourse has fallen that being seen to advocate such positions is enough to make some heads explode a la Scanners. Of course, there will be those who will see nothing contradictory in those views at all.
But why was that?Ī columnist for Unherd, fire fighter and trade unionist, Embery occupies an unusual place in the current discussion: a left wing Brexiteer, a pro-immigrant writer arguing for manageable numbers, a socialist articulating positions in favour of law and order as well as traditional family values. Most commentators now accept that Brexit was a cry of protest from a disillusioned working class. Time will tell on how smart Brexit was but, in the midst of this hand wringing, it's all too easy to forget that there is much more to the argument. It is also large parts of the left, using Brexit to label them stupid (because it was Russian bots, apparently), little Englanders (the Empire's over, don't you know) and racist (because it was all about immigrants, allegedly). However, it is no longer just the right bemoaning dole scroungers and chavs. I feel like Nero.Īs per usual, the working class are being vilified. These are infuriating, yet fascinating times. Areas where the vast majority agree (that racism and police brutality are bad) have become battlegrounds between iconoclasts and traditionalists. Issues that have been quietly smouldering over the decades have now been relit and have caused untold damage. With an unprecedented pandemic framing the narrative, we saw how a combination of lockdowns, unemployment, boredom and misinformation created a situation where both sides of the culture war could construct a narrative that suited their outlook.Īs a result, Western society is probably more divided than it has been in a long time.
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