The New Deal

Tom Crewe on politics and the press

One of the things that marks out ‘post-truth’ – the word of 2016, according to Oxford Dictionaries, which defined it as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’ – as originally an American concept is the fact that in Britain the press has been pushing fake news for decades. ‘BLUE MURDER’ was the Sun’s headline on 19 April, the morning after Theresa May dropped her ‘election bombshell’: ‘PM’s snap poll will kill off Labour.’ The Daily Mail cheered May’s ‘stunning move’ as finally providing an opportunity to ‘CRUSH THE SABOTEURS’. The Express summed up with ‘VOTE FOR ME AND I’LL DELIVER EU EXIT.’ The Times led with ‘May heads for election landslide’; the Telegraph was dazzled by a ‘Bolt from the Blue’. ‘Theresa May is dead right to call a snap election,’ the Sun trumpeted. ‘A thumping Tory victory – and surely few can imagine any other result – will give her the mandate she lacks as prime minister and crucial new authority before negotiating with EU leaders.’ For the Mail, May’s was ‘a brave and shrewd decision. It was her only way of clearing the political air, ending the dirty tricks of her Remoaner enemies and maximising her chances of driving the best possible deal for our country in the Brexit negotiations.’