Jacob Rees-Mogg's attack on Mark Carney yesterday for being biased, Canadian & wrong represents the coming together of three strands of British political culture, the combination of which is now harming the way our politics works. If you'll indulge me, a short thread... 1/5
1. Britain lauds the amateur. It's why we love Strictly, X-Factor & Bake Off. But in public life, reverence for the determined amateur has morphed into contempt for professionalism. We disparage & suspect the experts who help run our country (from Mark Carney to Olly Robbins) 2/5
2. Our political elite is dominated by generalists (like me). The public school/Oxbridge/politics nexus still delivers Renaissance men with great rounded education. And generalists like Rees-Mogg think clever people are just as good at economics as economists. They're wrong. 3/5
3. Our political discourse accommodates low-level xenophobia. It's become acceptable simply to refer causally to someone's foreignness to render their expertise illegitimate (Rees-Mogg on Carney) or their views intrinsically hostile to the UK's interest (all EU politicians). 4/5
This politics celebrating the amateur generalist & cultivating low-level xenophobia is dressed up as the revenge of voters on the elite. Yes we do have an elitist problem. But this isn't it.
Maybe we get the politics & public life we deserve. But we deserve better than this. 5/5
Maybe we get the politics & public life we deserve. But we deserve better than this. 5/5
