Post-Truth Britain

“We will care for you, if you can afford it

Wrap you in cotton wool, priced by the foot

In post-truth Britain, you will be safe, if we like you

If not then you’ll be on the next boat

Back to Europe. the failed experiment

To the friendship we have dismissed

Doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here

If you don’t fit/can’t pay/don’t play nicely, well, sorry,

(you won’t be missed)”

This reality may not transpire of course

Truth and justice may still prevail

But just in case, please do remember

Who you vote for, seals our fate.

I have been keeping up with the Tory leadership contest and, I am fully prepared to admit, have been dazzled by Rory Stewart. I have become increasingly disillusioned with party politics, I imagine I am not alone in this but have pinned my allegiance to the Green Party, which seems to be the most sensible and together party around.

Then along came Rory. Just as posh and privileged as the leading contender but with a completely different energy. He is showing us another way, or rather he could be. As new energy comes in, it is raw, nascent and often unchannelled, in other words not perfect. He may be saying what we want to hear and playing us all for fools (personally don’t think so) but its not his potential motivations or machinations that have brought that sparkle to my eyes, it’s the reaction of the people who have been waiting to hear his message for a very long time.

There appears to be a lot of us. Lib Dem, Tory, Labour and Green (can’t, to be honest, be quite sure about the Brexit Party) supporters have been surprised by his words, style and energy, including me. The general sentiment, from non Tory supporters, seems to be sadness that he is a committed Conservative, as evidenced by a troubling voting record.

Does this mean that we are ready for a new kind of politics that Rory has espoused? Certainly something is emerging. To me, it is the antithesis of the growing hubris of the authoritarian fact-free movement – facts, honesty and humility.

Sadly it looks like Conservative members are likely to elect someone more akin to the former than the latter and what that will mean for the UK I don’t think anyone knows.

But it feels like there are enough of us now, in Post-Truth Britain, who are ready for something new.

“Who you vote for, seals our fate”