Douglas Carswell's Blog

Digital Bennism? No, it is called iDemocracy

Labour, suggests Rachel Sylvester in today's Times, is split. Apparently the hard left are starting to be beastly. These so-called "digital Bennites" have started to make all sorts of unreasonable demands of the leadership.

Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Maybe there's a slightly different way of looking at this new digital dynamic exerting itself within Labour?

For years politics in this country – and throughout much of the West – has been something done to the rest of the country by a remote priesthood of politicians, pundits and pollsters. In the hands of professional politicos, politics has lacked passion and principle. It is too often reduced to a technocratic process, administered by those with a managerialist mindset.

To those on the outside looking in, it all seems a bit reminiscent of the last page of Animal Farm. "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig ... but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Many in SW1, including Times columnists, share common assumptions about many of the big questions of the day. Which is why on subjects like bank reform, immigration, criminal justice or monetary policy we so often get the same tried-and-failed answers. Until now.

Those Rachel calls "digital Bennites" might indeed have some gloriously antediluvian attitudes towards politics and public services. But the ability of those who have not had their outlook filtered by years inside the Westminster bubble to interrupt politics-as-usual is only going to grown.  

I suppose the "digital Bennites", like "tea party Tories", must seem frightfully unreasonable if your definition of reasonableness is the SW1 comfort zone.  Didn't folk once say the same about Beppe Grillo? 

Back to all posts