Trust Factor

Thom Brooks

Description

Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the public interest before their personal or partisan advantage. We trust each other to work and live together. No system is perfect and there is rarely one right answer to the big challenges faced, but we expect leaders to be honest, competent and compassionate - and punish any breaches harshly in the polls or at the ballot box. But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that's fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy, fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy's future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently. For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland's independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis - and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his 'realistic optimism' for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.

Informations

• Publié par: Methuen
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780413778598
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Trust Factor
Essays on the current political crisis and hope for the future
Trust is essential for our democracy. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the public interest before their personal or partisan advantage. We trust each other to work and live together. No system is perfect and there is rarely one right answer to the big challenges faced, but we expect leaders to be honest, competent and compassionate – and punish any breaches harshly in the polls or at the ballot box.
But not any longer. Now is a time of political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and the mainstream. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy fragmenting and polarising our communities. While election results from Brexit to Trump shocked political pundits on both sides of the Atlantic, the roots of an alienated and divided public who increasingly do not trust public figures to put the public interest first have causes that run deep. The absence of trust creates a political shift akin to a new kind of revolution putting at risk our democracy’s future health. Awareness and action have never been needed more urgently.
For over two decades, Thom Brooks has been a leading voice in exposing this crisis in trust and challenging its foundations. This provocative collection of new and recent reflections brings together his work as a freelance columnist and essayist covering Brexit, British values, citizenship and immigration, Scotland’s independence referendum, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, education policy and legal reform. These essays highlight his substantial contributions to some of the leading political issues of our day. How deep is our current crisis – and what can we do about it to rebuild trust in our politicians, public institutions and each other? Brooks provides clear insights into these issues and more with his ‘realistic optimism’ for the future and why we can be the solution to our political crisis.
Thom Brooks is Professor of Law and Government, the Dean of Durham Law School, Executive Member of the Fabian Society and policy advisor to the Labour Party. He is a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, New Statesman, The Times and frequent broadcast commentator for BBC News, CNN, ITV News, Sky News and international media.
Thom Brooks is an award-winning author, public speaker, the UK’s only Professor of Law and Government and senior policy advisor to the Labour Party. He is the Dean of Durham University’s Law School, President of the Society of Legal Scholars and sits on the Executive Committees of both the Fabian Society and the Society of Labour Lawyers. Brooks has visited at the universities of Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Nice, Oxford, Penn, St Andrews, Uppsala and Yale.
A leading advocate for the academic voices in public debates and for the public understanding of UK immigration law and policy for two decades, he has made over two thousand media appearances since 2013 regularly speaking on BBC One, BBC News, ITV News, Sky News and international broadcasters including Al Jazeera, CNN, Deutsche Welle and France 24. His freelance columns are published in the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, New Statesman, The Times and many others.
Brooks is quoted by the Electoral Commission in support of its recommendation to change the wording of the EU Referendum. His research is cited by the Connecticut Supreme Court in Santiago II finding the death penalty unconstitutional in that US state. His work was recognised by Research Councils UK in its report about the top 100 big ideas in British universities. He lives in County Durham.
The Trust Factor
Essays on the current political crisis and hope for the future
Thom Brooks
methuen
This collection of essays first published in Great Britain in paperback and ebook by
Methuen & Co 2022
1
Methuen & Co
Orchard House
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Slingsby, York, YO62 4AN
www.methuen.co.uk
Copyright in the collection © 2022 Professor Thom Brooks
Professor Brooks has asserted his moral rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Methuen & Co. Limited Reg. No. 5278590
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN (paperback): 978 0 413 77848 2
ISBN (ebook): 978 0 413 77859 8
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This paperback edition is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
For Bhikhu Parekh
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
A Very British ‘Brexit’
Trump’s America
UK politics: between Hope and Despair
In search of ‘British’ values
Tackling a global pandemic
A higher education
Big problems about borders
Law and disorder
King Alan’s court
Building the future
Index
Acknowledgements
T hese essays have appeared across a number of newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites. My thanks to all of them for publishing the original pieces – and also to the many contacts I have had the pleasure of working with over the years, including Rebecca Attwood, Asa Bennett, Jamie Burton, Elliot Chappel, Matt Chorley, Harry de Quetteville, Joel Dimmock, Laurence Dodds, Peter Edwards, Hannah Fearn, Mark Ferguson, Will Gore, Kathryn Hearn, Laura Hood, Matthew Jenkin, Paul Jump, Richard Kirkman, Hannah McGrath, Sarah Pine, Conor Pope, Rachael Revesz, Anna Rhodes, Sienna Rodgers, Kuba Shand-Baptiste and Chris Stevenson among many others.
While always interested in current affairs and politics, my interest in UK developments owe much to one of my first students – Luke Sullivan – and my guru, the professor of professors Bhikhu Parekh to whom I dedicate this book. I am grateful for conversations about the above topics with a wide range of friends and colleagues in Parliament, including Diane Abbott, Hilary Benn, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Tony Blair, Nick Bowes, Graham Brady, Gordon Brown, Robert Buckland, Michael Burke, Gavin Callaghan, Alan Campbell, Shami Chakrabarti, Jenny Chapman, Charles Clarke, Jeremy Corbyn, Kate Green, Dominic Grieve, David Hanson, Emma Hardy, Andrew Harrop, Roy Kennedy, Afzal Khan, Emma Lewell-Buck, Afzal Khan, Sadiq Khan, Holly Lynch, Ian Mearns, Ed Miliband, David Miliband, Chi Onwurah, Bridget Phillipson, Angela Rayner, Harvey Redgrave, Rachel Reeves, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Roger Roberts, Richard Rosser, Angela Smith, Jacqui Smith, Keir Starmer, Marc Stears, Jo Stevens, Lachlan Stuart, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Clare Williams, Phil Wilson and a great many others with apologies for anyone left out – with all responsibility for views expressed resting with me alone.
‘It is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest, that holds human associations together.’
H. L. Mencken
Introduction
T rust is fundamental to our everyday lives. We trust others to not attack us walking to work. We trust other drivers to keep to their side of the road. We trust bus drivers to stay on the road and not veer off a cliff. We trust our schools to keep our children safe from harm. We trust that our salaries get paid into our accounts on time and trust it will remain in the bank until it’s spent. We trust a contract for employment or owning a house is worth the paper it’s written on. We trust that when someone breaks the law and gets caught that he or she will be punished.
A world without trust is a world too chaotic and frightening to imagine. Every passer-by is a potential threat, no one is truly safe and law is an ideal rather than reality. We would have anarchy instead of community, alienated separation instead of working together and most of what we take for granted everyday would give way a more difficult and unjust life for all.
Trust is also essential for our democracy. It’s its life’s blood. We trust our political leaders and institutions to put the public interest before their own personal or partisan advantage. We know no system is perfect and that our big challenges rarely have only one right answer, but we expect our leaders to be honest, competent and compassionate to a considerable degree – and above what we expect in each other at our workplaces. We can easier tolerate a mistake at the office than an error at the Home Office, especially when the former is running late for a group meeting and the latter is failing to protect our national borders. When our political leaders make mistakes, we normally expect such breaches to be punished harshly either in the polls or at the ballot box. Retaining public confidence is more important than doing a good job honestly.
But perhaps not any longer. We can now see clear signs of a deepening political crisis that’s fuelled by a lack of trust in government and all things mainstream, including news media. This carries significant and damaging consequences for the future of our democracy as it hastens the fragmentation and polarisation of our communities.
The usual examples used to show this crisis has started are Brexit and Trump. It’s important to understand why these events are not the main issue so we can focus more attentively on the root causes which have run deep and growing in recent years.
The UK’s Brexit and America’s election of Trump took pundits on both sides of the Atlantic by surprise. I know this well as I’m originally American and I’ve been a British citizen since 2011 with continuing interest in studying the politics of my native and adopted countries. When shock results happen, it raises questions about how the experts could get it so wrong. Was the public honest i