If you sling mud politics is smeared

Aeschylus, the Greek dramatist, observed that “truth is the first casualty of war.” He could have added “and of politics”. The General Election campaign has begun with a demonstration of this in action. The two major parties have each launched their pre-election barrage with interpretations of their main opponent’s policies which are so highly coloured as to verge on the ridiculous. Each possesses a formidable public relations operation whose essential aim seems to be to plant one simple idea in the public’s mind – that on the one hand a Labour Government would be “chaotic”, and on the other, that the Tories “only care about the rich”. There is nothing in either of these far-fetched messages that is at all helpful to an undecided voter. Indeed what is striking about them is that they are both negative, the opposite of an attractive political philosophy for the future of Britain.

Maybe with Aeschylus’ dictum in mind, Winston Churchill declared that in wartime “truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies”. Modern politicians presumably justify their casual way with the truth on the grounds that politics is no different. But what is the truth about the current election campaign that is so precious that lies have to be told to safeguard it? The average voter could be excused for concluding that the only truth here is about gaining and holding on to power, with no honest account of what that power is to be used for.

For that section of the electorate whose political loyalties are tribal and therefore set in stone, the omission hardly matters. But for the undecided, in whose hands the outcome will eventually lie, the choice is baffling.

So the Conservatives’ opening shot, that Labour would impose an additional tax burden on the average working family of £3,028 over the course of the next Parliament, betrays its fabrication by its apparent exactitude. The figure, it implies, is right to the nearest pound. Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies quickly dismissed the claim as “unhelpful”, adding that, while the amount could be over £3,000, it could just as well, on the same known facts, be as little as £100. Joseph Goebbels once remarked “if you are going to tell a lie, tell a big one” –  but he was speaking not about Hitler’s infamous propaganda machine which he headed, but about the way the English conducted their politics. It seems he was not wrong.

Meanwhile Labour’s claim that Conservatives are only concerned to preserve the privileges of the wealthy ignores the honourable “One Nation” Tory tradition that inspired many, probably most, Conservatives to go into politics, and inspires them still. But Labour’s message chimes with the public mood of utter cynicism about politicians’ motives in general, and this rebounds on them also. Both parties seem intent on devaluing the currency of politics that a healthy democracy depends on. The one depressing truth to emerge from the election campaign so far is that if politicians go on like this, democracy itself could become the casualty.