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These 21st-century demagogues aren’t mavericks – they’ve repeated on us throughout history | George Monbiot

    We are nonplussed every time one emerges, as if it’s something new. But there are patterns that are totally predictable

    I’ve been thinking about a famously orange-skinned former presenter of trashy TV programmes, who lives on a luxurious coastal estate. He has a history of racist and Islamophobic remarks, of blaming asylum seekers for bringing disease into the country and ranting about the “supercilious metropolitan elite”. He swept into a rightwing political party and refashioned it in his image, presenting himself as the antidote to politics-as-usual, whipping up culture wars and using the platform to boost his planet-sized ego.

    I am, of course, describing the British former politician Robert Kilroy-Silk.

    Continue reading…

    ​We are nonplussed every time one emerges, as if it’s something new. But there are patterns that are totally predictableI’ve been thinking about a famously orange-skinned former presenter of trashy TV programmes, who lives on a luxurious coastal estate. He has a history of racist and Islamophobic remarks, of blaming asylum seekers for bringing disease into the country and ranting about the “supercilious metropolitan elite”. He swept into a rightwing political party and refashioned it in his image, presenting himself as the antidote to politics-as-usual, whipping up culture wars and using the platform to boost his planet-sized ego.I am, of course, describing the British former politician Robert Kilroy-Silk. Continue reading… US news | The Guardian

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