The Guardian’s Nick Cohen is on blistering form describing how a dictatorship flourished in the East End
The neurotic fear of accusations of race and religious bias helped Rahman build a municipal dictatorship. The system of elected mayors is always open to abuse, because there are so few controls on them. Rahman pushed it to the limits. He controlled grants and officials could not prevent him handing public money to his supporters. He controlled the officials, too, and used supposedly impartial public servants to “carry out electoral activities on his behalfâ€.
Tower Hamlets First, his political party, was nothing more than a cult of the personality. If you wanted a safe seat on the council, you had to show a lapdog loyalty to Rahman. Speaking of dogs, the judge noticed that when there was not even the slightest justification for an accusation of racism, Rahman and his cronies would accuse their opponents of “dog-whistle politics†instead. By these means, anything and everything an opponent said could be turned into coded racism, even when the racism was only in the mind of the accuser.
Come on, admit it – it’s not just in the East End you see these tricks played. The postmodern universities and identity-obsessed scour speech for the smallest hint of bigotry, real or imagined. They seize on it – and with a whoop of triumph – cry that the mask has slipped to expose the true face of prejudice. Surely you have noticed, too, that in the paranoia that follows, careerists and charlatans flourish.
He doesn’t mince words, does he?
It’s yet another examle of the way the identity politics and priviledge theory adopted by large parts of the left have created an envionment in which corrupt bullies can thrive.
The fiasco of Tower Hamlets goes to prove it’s not just the storm-in-teacup culture wars in nerd fandoms or the toytown politics of student unions that have been poisoned. If effects the real world as well.
