Roger Scruton: Truth in Politics

By Roger Scruton

Human beings make rational choices, and choices are rational only if they seek out the truth. But the truth may be uncomfortable, so that we have a motive to avoid it. Or it may be unacceptable to those on whom we wish to impose our decisions, in which case we have a motive to conceal it. Perhaps the deep truth about our condition is so uncomfortable that we stand in need of some collective delusion that will make us governable – so Plato thought, and advocated the ‘Noble Lie’ as a means of crowd-control. The totalitarian systems of the 20th century took this seriously, and rewrote the human condition in terms of mythical ‘struggles’ between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, or the master race and the human vermin. In due course the totalitarian project advanced in the way foretold by George Orwell, inventing a language and a doctrine that would make the truth inexpressible, so that people would have to ‘live within the lie’, as Havel put it.

However, while human beings can be for a long time browbeaten into accepting lies and myths, the instinct for the truth lies deeper in their psyche than the willingness to be deceived, and will eventually erupt in protest. Two great lies have dominated British politics since the 1960s, and it has now become impossible to repeat them. The first lie – propagated by the Labour Party – is that mass immigration is a positive benefit, and that anyone who resists it is a racist, a fascist, a Little Englander or worse. The second lie – propagated by the old guard of the Tory Party – is that the European Union is a free-trade agreement whose economic benefits far outweigh any minor social costs. These lies have been maintained in being by intimidation of a kind that has rarely been seen in British politics. To speak out publicly against mass immigration, even to advocate, like Ray Honeyford, an active policy of assimilation and integration, was to be condemned as a racist, not only by the activists but by the hierarchy of the Labour Party. Your career was immediately at risk, and if you were a politician or a teacher you could no longer hope for promotion.

Likewise, attempts to point out that the EU is not a free-trade agreement but a conspiracy to confiscate national sovereignty have been vilified not only by progressives committed to trans-national government but also by prominent Tories, who have devoted their energies over a lifetime to reinforcing the lies told by Edward Heath and have no intention of changing now. The absurd insults hurled at UKIP and its supporters have at last done their work, and the Conservative Party has been forced to wake up to the fact that you can no longer conceal the truth from the people. Membership of the EU brings benefits. But it also means that our borders are now infinitely porous, that our national assets (the welfare system included) are no longer ours, and that our government is powerless to pursue the national interest. It is not as though this is true only now: it has been true since the ‘Single European Act’ forced through Parliament for no clear reason by Margaret Thatcher. Indeed it was true from the beginning and is the reason why Jean Monnet insisted that the European project should advance behind a sequence of disguises, beginning with the ‘Coal and Steel Community’ of 1951. But efforts to conceal the truth have at last broken down, and these lies woven by our parents and grandparents can be repeated only in an ironical tone of voice.

So two great lies have lost their dominion, and truth stands bare and shocking in their place. The question is: what are our politicians going to do about it? And the answer is that they haven’t a clue. If the Conservative Party had based itself in a conservative philosophy, with national sovereignty and social continuity as its cornerstones, it would have known what to say and what to do a long while back. If the Labour Party had remained true to its core constituents among the English and Welsh working class, it would have been able to confess to what is happening to those constituents’ towns and schools. But in both cases the comfortable lie has displaced the uncomfortable truth. And all that is left, now that the lie can no longer be repeated, is bluster and incrimination.

Comments

[David MacDonald]

Yes, Yes, Yes!

It’s not even that UKIP is a very wonderful organisation run by super humans. Far from it, Its leadership, activists and voters are but ordinary mortals and its very ordinariness is its strength.

[Philip]

As for the Conservative Party basing "itself in a conservative philosophy, with national sovereignty and social continuity as its cornerstones", and the Labour Party "remaining true to its core constituents among the English and Welsh working class", the problem is both parties (and of course the LibDems) have been captured by the metropolitan liberal elite which is imposing agendas far removed from the interests of this nation and ordinary constituents. It seems UKIP is saying something different from this ruling elite and is beginning to connect with voters.

[commentator]

It's interesting that even the likes of Portillo, the founder uber-moderniser and BBC-friendly Tory, are now saying the unsayable as well as pointing out what most of us have known for years: Cameron, like Clegg, is a slippery charlatan who will sell anyone and anything down the river if it advances his own narrow interests.

[PhilKean1]

So refreshing to read the absolute truth, for a change.

What can we do about it?

We must hold our nerve. We must keep up the pressure. We must expose the lies and the trickery. And we must confront those who are, effectively, the enemy of the British people.

We are living at the most crucial time in post-war history. What we do now, and what we achieve between now next election will surely decide the fate of the British nation.
.

[Elaine Turner]

The truth was obvious to many in the lower echelons of the Conservative Party a good while ago. Some of those 'lower echelons' are now in Parliament and showing Cameron that the reason they were selected was because of their EU sceptic opinions, bless them.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a country waking up to the truth of the EU must be in want of an exit. That is what the country is beginning to want. Rather than fight it, lets go with the flow and lead it.

[Boudicca]

Goodness me. Mr Scruton has been allowed to post the absolute, unvarnished truth on ConHome.

"two great lies have lost their dominion, and truth stands bare and shocking in their place"

and it was the loonies, fruitcakes and closet racists of UKIP who identified the lies and set out of expose them.

Once the truth is out there - and it is now - it is impossible to suppress.

It is only a matter of time now until we get our country back.

We are NEVER going to forget that it was the CONservatives, with the connivance of Labour and the LibDems, who gave it away in the first place.

[Chris]

Excellent article.

There is the blatant use of audience related "truth", which I believe Cameron is employing now with regard to the EU. An article in the Guardian today mentions that he gives one version to fellow EU leaders i.e. that he is seeking to reform parts of the EU itself in the better interests of its members, and the version for the public back home i.e. that he would renegotiate a different deal/different type of membership for Britain. The fact that this deception seems to be so blatant indicates that either Cameron completely underestimates the intelligence of the electorate to spot deception, or he is so arrogant and feels he has the power to just ignore the electorate and pursue what he and fellow eurocrats presumably want.

[radssatser]

Although our journey time is still uncertain, of our destination there is now no doubt.

Whilst campaigning towards our goal, we should also be debating how and what we need to put in place to stop for ever a small detached political elite riding a coach and horses through our democracy.

[Rod]

The LibLabCon-men will never give a free and fair referendum on our EU-SSR membership. The only way British people can have their say is to VOTE UKIP.org at each and every opportunity. Once substantial numbers of LibLabCon councillors, MPs and MEPs have lost their jobs, only then will they start to get the message!

[Denis Cooper]

Somebody has pointed out elsewhere that today is "Europe Day", and thanks to that person for the reminder, because otherwise it might have passed us by without anyone noticing ...

The text of the Schuman Declaration is here:

http://europa.eu/about-eu/basic-information/symbols/europe-day/schuman-declaration/index_en.htm

and see that it says:

"a first step in the federation of Europe"

and

"the first concrete foundation of a European federation".

And of course the first line of the Treaty of Rome was:

"DETERMINED to lay the foundations of an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe".

That purpose was deliberately hidden from the British people; our politicians viewed us with such contempt that they had no scruples about lying to us then, and they've carried on lying ever since.

Heath lied through his teeth in 1972:

"There is no question of eroding any national sovereignty; there is no blueprint for a federal Europe. There are some in this country who fear that in going into Europe, we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. These fears I need hardly say are completely unjustified."

But later in 1990, in response to the question:

"Did you have in mind a United States of Europe in 1972?"

Heath's answer was:

"Of course, yes".

[tokyo drifter]

Now is the final window of opportunity for us to leave without suffering major, probably violent, upheaval when (not if) it all comes to a head later. Now that they've all been rumbled, the party that acts first will reap the rewards. I fully expect the Tories to be too slow and get left behind by Labour. Yes, you read that right, I believe Lab to be the more likely of the big two to take us out (signs are there that the white working class is waking up) and leave the dumb Tories looking clueless again. UKIP's rise has handed this issue on a plate to the Tory party - the fact they haven't reacted and already started the process of getting us out just goes to show how much the leadership have been bought. I'll say it again, if anyone is going to get us out it'll be Lab (though I wouldn't bet against a Lab-Con coalition to see off UKIP either - it really all depends on whether the Lab leaders are as 'bought and paid for' as the Tories). If we are not out by 2015, I'm predicting civil disobedience, perhaps civil war, to follow.

[commentator]

The Tories will be slow off the mark not least because there are many Tory patrician rent seekers who have a vested interest in keeping their snouts in the Eurotrough. These people have Cameron's ear....and no doubt he aspires to join them.

[Arthur]

Excellent article!
Nice to read some common sense for a change!

[John Wrake]

Yes, the truth that we have been deceived by lies from Conservative, labour and LibDem parties is out, but a deeper truth has not yet been grasped. Signing up to any of the European Treaties, from 1972 to Lisbon was treason, because all are contrary to the English Constitution as set out in Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Union with Scotland and The Coronation Oath. As such, all those Treaties were, and are unlawful. What we claim is not new and dangerous.
It is a return to the Rule of Law. Our fathers would not tolerate a King who claimed to be above the Law. We will not tolerate Government, Foreign or Domestic, making that same claim.

[David Thornton]

A major problem now is that all the political parties will not allow would-be candidates who oppose the official line to become candidates in the first place. And if official candidates transgress the official line they will be deselected and a 'safe' candidate parachuted in.

[Cassandra]

Those politicians who were a party to these lies should be put on trial and if found to have knowingly lied should go to prison like any crooked fraudster would. I am so glad I left the Con party when the lies first started.

If we cannot get rid of these political crooks by the ballot box than the time will come when force becomes an acceptable method all over Europe including the UK.

A referendum is of no value as it leaves the same crooks in charge. The House of Commons needs to be cleansed either by the ballot box or a latter day Cromwell

[AuntyJ]

I don't believe any of the 3 main parties will give a fair referendum, if any, on the EU. After all they own the state broadcaster the BBC. So I will continue to vote UKIP.

[Erik]

"I don't believe any of the 3 main parties will give a fair referendum, if any, on the EU. After all they own the state broadcaster the BBC. So I will continue to vote UKIP."

All previous comments...

Its refreshing to see the same arguments for the EU referendum as we in Scotland are repeatedly making against the Westminster propaganda we are being blitzed with.

[Maggan]

Thank you Roger Scruton. The truth has 'outed'! Unfortunately, no, disastrously, Cameron has no conception of truths. And he has no strong beliefs. The people, the British people, know that he has no strong beliefs. Cameron does not want to know that the people know that he does not know what to believe, or what to do. Problem - one of many.

[roundhead]

I think the temptation to self-deception is very strong, if the implications of the truth for action are too difficult for the average mortal to contemplate. Is there a man or woman in the current parliamentary Conservative Party who is "man enough" to take us out of the EU, which would require a fearlessly confronting the united fury of the vested interests that would keep us in? Maybe, there is no such person, which is why Conservative MPs need to persuade themselves that David Cameron may be able to secure better terms or that exit is really a job for another administration.

However, I think people are beginning to get a sense that indeed there is a man on the scene who is fearless enough to do the necessary job now, but he is not a member of any of the present parliamentary parties.

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