In search of the government’s next boogeyman, and this time it could be you

Professor of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London and author of ‘The Conservative Party After Brexit’ Tim Bale speaks about this concept of ‘The Party in the Media’.

‘The Party in the Media’ is the vociferous [and powerful] right-wing press that remains hugely influential and provides one of the louder voices in the national conversation. It directly proliferates government policy, as well as ministers’ views, while also striving to influence government decisions.

I spoke previously of Adam Curtis and ‘The Power of Nightmares’, too - one specific quote resonates that I often use when I’m speaking about the Conservative rhetoric surrounding migration and refugees: 

“In an age when all the grand ideas have lost credibility, fear of a phantom enemy is all the politicians have left to maintain their power.”

It’s with these in mind that I speak about a recent Telegraph piece [which prompted a complaint from Disability Rights UK] that discusses “Exactly how much of your salary bankrolls the welfare state.”

It was in no small way an attempt on the part of the Conservative media [and therefore Conservatives themselves] to attach the nation’s woes to a new boogeyman. 

This time, it wasn’t migrants or refugees, however - although Rishi Sunak gave a speech in Dover on Monday discussing how he still intended to "stop the boats". The Telegraph piece focused on British people just like you and me.

And so what we see here is a dark cloud of rhetoric forming around the Conservatives where the increasingly beleaguered party has seamlessly pivoted from vilifying foreigners to - well, its own people.