We live in an era of 'strong-leader' government. The politenesses of democratic discourse have been put aside and people like Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping march on, imposing their brands of single-minded right-wing control on their nations. Like dictators, they assume they are the only people who can 'make their nations great again'. Any dissent is shouted (or tweeted) down or suppressed.
Was it a coincidence that there was a spy-poisoning scandal at the same time as Putin was running for president? There is nothing to galvanise a nation around its leader than the sight of that leader showing apparent toughness in foreign affairs. Think Maggie and the Falklands. Theresa May needed no prompting. She shrugged off the shambles of Brexit to grab the reigns and show that she could deal with Johnny Foreigner, and promptly expelled 23 Russian diplomats.
On the eve of the election, the BBC website asked Does Putin's Russia reject the West? Many of the themes seemed somehow familiar and oh so typical of those 'strong leaders'. May is adopting the same political tactics as Putin, adopting the same messages to position herself, like him as 'the natural leader' of her country.
'For those who don't remember the [1990s], officials and the state-run media machine now constantly spread the fear of chaos. It comes with the message - President Vladimir Putin brought an end to that. He brought order and stability.'
It is good to have someone strong and stable to solve the problem of 'chaos'. According to the Tory narrative it was Labour who created the world-wide recession and chaos of 2009 and only they, the 'natural party of government' who brought an end to that.
'The idea that Russia faces a hostile outside world has spread. ... it was the West that fomented chaos ... and tried to force its ways on to Russia, Putin argues. ... the West wanted to humiliate the former superpower.'
The Tory narrative would have us believe that the UK also faces a hostile world, one inhabited by the EU/France/Germany who have been trying to undermine and humiliate another former superpower.
'We used to have a powerful civil society. Now they are bringing order and control.' The former manager of a Gulag museum says and his organisation has been branded a 'foreign agent', a term 'applied to all groups engaged in "political activity" and receiving funding from the West.'
Civil society is hated by right wing governments. You do not have to read many Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Daily Express or Sun headlines to see how despised any organisation is that dares to question the government. 'Snowflakes'!
There is a growing emphasis on religious belief and traditional values, 'away from the corrupting influences of the West ... Putin has undergone his own transformation in power. He now styles himself as religious and refers to "Russian values" on a regular basis ... he also places great stress on the institution of the family.''
I am still unclear what those British values are that our schools are meant to be promoting. Something to do with honesty, decency and respect for the law which are surely universal values and (whisper it quietly) not unique to Britain (or the UK). They may sound Churchillian, Bulldog spirit and all that. Come on, let's all sing 'The British, the British, the British are best ...'
Close to the Ukraine border, some born-again Cossacks argue that the West is 'a parasite that destroyed the Soviet Union, fed off the spoils, and tried to humiliate and subjugate Russia ... such views would once have been dismissed as extreme but over the past few years they've merged into the mainstream in Russia, pushed by senior officials and state television.'
Back to our news media again, adopting the various lies about the outside world and the EU, making them mainstream in public discourse. Vide the Jacob Rees-Mogg idea about the EU making us a vassal state.
An entrepreneur says that '"The government is doing everything possible to isolate Russia. It's a very sad fact." Taming the media was one of the president's priorities, very soon after coming to power, and it has had a long-lasting impact. "Instead of talking about problems we have inside the country, they talk about how we are surrounded by enemies who all want the worst for us. It's really scary, because it whips everything up. People then think we need to push back, otherwise we will be overrun and destroyed."'
Oh those European enemies, determined to do down the proud Brits.
The over-powerful Murdoch media empire which is far too close to ministers and the Tory party is as close to state control of the media as we are likely to get. Even the BBC is acting like a stricken rabbit, uncertain whether to follow its instincts or protect its licence fee and charter.
'Putin said "forget about modernisation, we're going back to traditional things."' The Curator of an art museum argues 'Being open, challenging and modern - all are firmly out of fashion. They've been ousted by isolation, control and tradition.'
Fear of outsiders; Isolationist not globalist; Control of the media. Stamping down on dissent (remember those treasonous saboteurs); Endorsing traditional values ... Yes, they all sound very familiar.
Now we know where our government got their ideas from. Strong and Stable, folks!
PS: Putin won with 75% of the vote. It would be unkind to mention that all political rallies of more than 12 people required 'government approval' and that he had imprisoned most of his biggest critics.
At least we have not come to that quite yet, but the direct personal attacks on Jeremy Corbyn are as close as we get to the same. It is so much easier to play the man and not the ball.
