A game of two halves

Politics is changing. But fear not those of you for whom it is a profession either directly or indirectly. In the end it’ll probably not change by very much.

In Scotland, politics is being modified slightly by the ongoing fallout of the independence referendum. In England by, er, Russell Brand.

Indy we all know about. Russell has a new book out called Revolution, in which he highlights the inadequacies of the current system and calls for a revolt in Europe’s most sedate country.

Surprisingly, Russell’s call has not gone down well in all quarters, including in those where he was previously most at home. The Guardian, which first afforded him the platform on which to mutate from stand-up comedian to political philosopher, appears to have built him up only now to knock him down. Imagine the media doing that. But, remember, the media is only a reflection of what we are (well, except for readers in Scotland, obviously, but we’re used to that sort of thing here).

Mark Steel, fellow comedian and star writer on The Independent, has mocked the mockers who criticised Brand’s language and approach, arguing that they would prefer an analysis that began: “As we enter an uncertain pre-election period, one is drawn inexorably towards the dilemma of the Liberal Democrats as outlined to me by a spokesman for their senior adviser on geology …”

Tongue in cheek, Steel adds that young people would be more tempted into politics by a tome titled My Forty Days Working in a Nearby Office to Iain Duncan Smith – the Official Story.

I say ‘tempted into politics’ which, of course, isn’t the same thing as ‘tempted into revolution’. That ain’t going to happen. Not even in Scotia Minor.

Most of those whose lives were changed by the referendum campaign appear to have gone into pro-indy political parties, which they may change, but which will probably change them too. Next thing you know, the brightest – or at least most ambitious of them – will be climbing into suits, clamouring for office, and watering down their beliefs in the name of realpolitik. So it goes, and perhaps just as well.

Perhaps you could exempt the Scottish Socialists from this but, even there, things would change. The further you are from power, the more you can strike attitudes. Closer you get, the more you start to conform.

Still, there does seem to be an appetite for change out there. And by there I just don’t mean here. In Spain, the left-wing Podemos party, started up only six or seven months ago, is now coming second in the opinion polls.

A poll here, meanwhile, purports to show majority support for independence – now that it’s too late. See what I mean about striking attitudes when you’re far from power?

I’m not surprised that outside observers are treating such poll results with contempt. I didn’t have the courage to look at the below-the-line comments in the English press, but it might conceivably involve the usual insulting talk about typical Scotch bottlers blowing hard when nothing is at stake.

On the other hand, in the absence of Project Fear, maybe the notoriously timorous Scots are finding their courage again. They’ve certainly found the Labour Party out. And about time too. I had to laugh at Labour leadership contender Jim Murphy talking admiringly about the passion unleashed by the referendum campaign. Aye, not by your side, mate. Your side tried to kill it.

Even when this passion manifested itself in an egg – imagine! – Mr Murphy wept bitter tears. As someone said online, it was made to look like the assassination of Martin Luther King.

Talking of appearances, it was the presence of some identikit Lab-Tory-Lib Dem (don’t remember which, don’t much care) young men on the BBC’s unsavoury Question Time programme that encapsulated all that The People were turning against.

These soundbite-spouting androids in their insurance clerk suits drew derisory remarks on yonder internet, as did the dated, narrow, confrontational approach of the show.

Citizens want something different now, something co-operative and more creative. The fact that the main Westminster parties hardly differ from each other makes the manufactured confrontations even more risible.

The political system seems tied up with the equally absurd system of law – hardly surprising, given the crossover between the two professions – where sophistry is esteemed more than truth.

True, this does add drama, but you could argue that politics and law should not be conducted by the norms of entertainment.

Still, one cannot deny that something exciting has been unleashed by the referendum campaign. It may just be dissipated in parties and radical campaigns that have a tendency to turn inward.

One detects also, at least at the time of writing, a relative quiescence in some of the influential blogs and websites, which may be temporary or which may imply that the defiance stage of grief has been superseded by acceptance and its bosom-buddy, apathy.

But, while there’s nothing to win at the moment, a lot of people are still wandering about in their strips, looking for a ball to kick. Maybe there’s a gamechanger among them.