Tim Dieppe has a useful Critic piece on the term “far right”. Useful because it adds detail to what we already know - the term is meaningless unless it merely means "not on our side".
Who exactly is “far right”?
If it is a threat then it has to be defined
Lord Pearson asked a parliamentary written question in June, asking the government whether it has “adopted a common definition of ‘far-right’; and if so, what it is.”
Lord Sharpe, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department replied on behalf of the government. He cited an Intelligence and Security Committee report which defines Far Right as “an umbrella term to encapsulate the entire movement which has a Far-Right political outlook in relation to matters such as culture, race, immigration and identity.” Lord Sharpe stated that the Home Office uses this definition.
What is extraordinary about this is that the definition is actually circular! “Far-Right” is defined as being “Far-Right” in relation to certain matters. One might have hoped that someone in the Home Office would be sharp enough to see the absurdity of this, even if Lord Sharpe and whoever advised him was not.
The whole piece is well worth reading because as Dieppe says - if it is a threat then it has to be defined. Of course, governments, political parties, official bodies, the media and many other powerful organisations like circular definitions, they are used to maintain dubious finger-pointing narratives.
Just a few years back, in 2020, the same Intelligence and Security Committee released a report on Russia. Once again, the word ‘threat’ is prevalent with sentences like “The murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 demonstrated that Russia under President Putin had moved from potential partner to established threat.” Russia is thus a “non-native” threat, and the Intelligence and Security Committee is once again “far-right” in outlook according to its own definition.
3 comments:
"Far-right" is generally used by the unimaginative who are somewhere to the left of Stalin or wokesters who are unable to come up with anything more original.
"The antics of the Far Right are offensive and harmful" said the Woke Nob.
"Have you defined Far Right?".
"How many pearls did you clutch?".
"Were there any broken bones?".
Because if there are no obvious answers the Woke Nob is just throwing a tantrum - and the first rule of adulthood is that you don't pander to the toddler throwing a tantrum in the middle of Tescos.
Jannie - yes, many don't seem to realise how totalitarian they are.
DJ - it's weird how the centre ground became Far Right in only a few decades yet the shift is not seen as extreme. As if many people are overwhelmed by now and dare not see anything else.
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