The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

getting it from Michael Gove | Jonathan Portes
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The consensus about the Brexit vote is that it expressed resentment about how politicians had driven
forward social changes without the consent of the affected communities. So social forces were
certainly important. But in an extraordinary year where the right gained the upper hand and effective
opposition disintegrated, what’s striking is how many fatal twists and turns were set in motion by
misjudgments based on the character flaws of the leaders. Without the hubris, arrogance, laziness,
disloyalty, connivance and opportunism of so many of the key players, we would probably not be in
this current state of Brexit-induced political mess.
How far back should we go with this idea that misjudgments based on character flaws led directly to
this mess? A long way. Tony Blair’s hubris about the Middle East discredited his centre-left politics.
The fratricidal competitiveness of Ed Milliband helped to deprive Labour of victory and a platform
to rebuild the centre-left. Also key in the 2015 election was Nick Clegg’s duplicity around student
fees. His class chemistry with David Cameron and his evident liking for his position caused him to
massively disappoint his voters – a move that in effect wiped out the Liberal Democrats.
2016: How do you report a year that changed the world? – video
This left Cameron unchallenged except by his own right wing. And of all the personality flaws in this
saga, his proved the most glaring. His laziness and lack of attention to detail, characterised by the
press as “Dave’s chillaxing”, made him supremely confident about the referendum. He thought he
could face down the right relying on electoral “reasonableness”. This relaxed attitude was fatal. The
stakes were too high, and the details about the referendum’s status really mattered, as the ensuing
muddle revealed. Cameron’s failure to see danger coming allowed a motivated right wing to define
the agenda.
The weeks following the vote was a period many commentators described as a Greek tragedy, which
is all about character initiating a fatal sequence of events. Michael Gove and Boris Johnson appeared
motivated more by manoeuvring for leadership than deep conviction, as well as being deluded about
their own strategic cleverness. But Johnson was rather too good at connecting with the popular mood,
at turning the perfect phrase, at echoing and, to some extent, manipulating the popular press, and got
the result he almost certainly didn’t want. His stricken face on Brexit morning suggested he had really
sought to be the “unifying” leader in a close remain vote. Gove’s downfall came from opportunism,
disloyalty, and an overestimation of his ability to outmanoeuvre Johnson.
Trump’s latest tweet about nuclear weapons is
both daft and dangerous | Simon Jenkins
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