You might not have noticed it, but the United Kingdom has apparently become a right-wing authoritarian state. At least, it has according to the frenzied cries of left-leaning Twitter mobs. The current fashion on the British and European left is to compare the UK’s government to the anti-liberal parties of the right who are currently governing in Poland and Hungary. The left wing commentariat is now determined to paint Boris Johnson’s Conservative government as a grubby populist colleague of Fidesz’s Viktor Orbán in Hungary and the Law and Justice Party (PiS) in Poland.
This narrative has gathered momentum after the election result – on Christmas Eve The Guardian published an opinion piece drawing parallels between Britain’s “lurch to the right” with attempts by governments in Poland and Hungary to undermine their independence of their judiciaries and the freedom of the press. Some of Britain’s politicians are also scrambling to get in on the act. Labour MP David Lammy, ever the prophet, said on Twitter today: “We have already seen Boris Johnson attack the courts and other democratic norms in the UK”. He warned “how dangerous this government can be.”
