The fundamental battle which unites Donald Trump and Nigel Farage

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

There is a fundamental contest under way - with those who purport to be on the side of the people pitching themselves against those whom they decry as the failing Establishment.
Look at the recent elections in the UK and the USA. Sir Keir Starmer did not enter Downing Street on a tide of love. Rather, he benefited from loathing directed at the departing Tories. A revulsion he helped foment.
That does not mean that his election was illegitimate. Rather, that it is predicated upon disquiet and discontent, rather than optimism and hope.
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In the USA, Donald Trump regained the White House by positing himself as the voice of a disgruntled people. A siren yelling at an Establishment which he chose to depict as anyone opposed to him.
This political turmoil has common origins on both sides of the Atlantic; a sluggish, static economy. It can thus be traced back to the banking crash of 2008.
Folk feel unsettled and discontented. Looking for scapegoats, they blame – or are exhorted to blame – those who have held power over a prolonged period.
In EU countries like Germany and France, that has resulted in the rise of the populist Right, held off – just, so far – by more mainstream offers.
In the USA, that has meant the election of a President – whose supporters previously stormed the Capitol building and who is now in direct conflict with counter-balancing elements of the Constitution he is pledged to uphold.
Donald Trump won by decrying the entire political structure in the US. He won by pitching a populist appeal against elements he claimed had weakened America in search of self-interest.
While corporate America sought calm constraint, he surrounded himself with individualistic, oligarchical figures whose chief talents lie in disruption, in challenging the status quo.
Elon Musk has now left Team Trump, with a whimper of disquiet. He was never a team player, happier issuing orders rather than compromising.
But, more, he fears that Trump's 'big beautiful bill' will counter his own cost-cutting efforts by devoting far too many dollars to defence spending.
But, as we wish so long to Elon, there is now a far more significant controversy. A federal court has ruled that President Trump exceeded his powers on trade tariffs.
Nigel Farage (Image: free) That is out to appeal. But President Trump's initial response is intriguing. He seeks to depict his rivals and the judiciary as part of an Establishment rump which he blames for undermining him – and, by extension, the America for which he purportedly stands.
It is a quite deliberate and specific challenge to the entire structure of countervailing power upon which America is founded. President Trump summons up a crisis – then offers himself as the sole, incontestable solution.
A tactic not unknown elsewhere down the decades and centuries. Generally associated with despots. Not that such a term should be applied to the elected 47th President of the United States of America.
Across the US northern border, there is turmoil of a different kind – and the positing of an intriguing solution.
While President Trump identifies and excoriates his enemies within, the Canadians are angry and unhappy over an external challenge. From Donald J. Trump who wants to annexe Canada as the 51st American state.
Enter, briefly, King Charles. Opening the Canadian Parliament. Delivering the Speech from the Throne, as his mother did in 1977. The task usually falls to the Governor General, a term that speaks of times past.
But the King sought to look to the future, from this troubled present. And his choice of language echoed our age of anxiety.
A diplomatic nod to the annexation issue, vaunting Canada as 'strong and free'. His audience will not have missed the significance of the freedom reference.
But he went further, adding: 'The Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada. It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.'
In essence, the King was responding to a decidedly North American political conflict by offering a regal hand across the ocean. Equating monarchy with permanent reassurance.
But what of the sovereign's regular home, this United Kingdom? Here too there is disquiet. But, more than that, there are signs of fragmentation in the political system, exemplified above all in the rise of Reform UK.
Nigel Farage may attract adulation and loathing to varying degrees – but he is reading contemporary politics well. To be frank, that is scarcely difficult.
Folk are thoroughly unhappy and, indeed, angry. They are upset over the cost of living, energy bills, taxation. They are discontented with the familiar political system, feeling it pays no heed to their concerns.
Enter Nigel. He discloses a hitherto understated concern for those on benefits by offering to reverse Labour government constraint.
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Mr Farage presents established parties with a conundrum. Do they ignore him and hope he fades away? Or do they, like the Prime Minister this week, assail his policies as unfunded, damaging drivel?
Then there is Scotland. Firstly, that row with Anas Sarwar. Mr Farage plays innocent. He was only quoting the Scottish Labour leader who had hoped people of Asian heritage might enter politics.
The Reform version had Mr Sarwar prioritising the Pakistani community. Mr Sarwar stresses he intended no such thing – and calls Mr Farage a spiv for good measure.
This particular controversy will subside – although canine whistles can persist, faintly. But there is a broader issue, which has featured in the Hamilton by-election.
Does Reform represent an enduring challenge to the already fractured Scottish political system? Scots are very far from immune in the age of anxiety. Plus, as The Herald disclosed, they now count immigration among their chief concerns.
Each of the major political parties knows the response. They need to focus upon delivery, upon popular concerns. But they need to do so through measured, thoughtful discourse. The people will tolerate no less.
Brian Taylor is a former political editor for BBC Scotland and a columnist for The Herald. He cherishes his family, the theatre - and Dundee United FC