Beyond Outrage

The prorogation of Parliament by Boris Johnson is an outrage and illustrates the utter contempt the current Tory government has for Parliamentary democracy. Some may argue the finer points and insist that all this does is deny MPs a week they would otherwise have to debate no-deal.

It’s beyond ridiculous and disingenuous to have that discussion but within the context of a regime that has consistently flouted all bounds of decency and consistently lied about its record and policies, it’s not wildly off centre.

For outrage to be meaningful, the action must have broken a convention, the bounds of which were considered immovable or have leapt a wall too high to jump. But when the bounds of reason have already been pushed with no consequence and a ramp built to nearly the height of the wall, the outrage itself can appear ridiculous.

Nine years ago this would have been unthinkable but when you look at voting intentions it’s clear the norms have been skewed to the point where up and down, left and right, have no meaning. And the engagement of social media where every new outrage invites a new level of incredulity has taken us to the end of a virtual runway.

You don’t get into the air by simply going faster and faster or hitting a ramp that projects you into the sky, you get to a speed where you can take off and then adjust the ailerons to give you lift and you literally climb into the sky.

A glimpse into social media will show you that your outrage does little more than give you a momentary release. You might dismiss the faux outrage of determined Brexiters but it nevertheless takes at least some wind out of your sails (or lift out of your flight to keep with the metaphor).

Now in the tenth year of this deplorable administration, we are at the end of the runway and we either fly or crash. The miles we have travelled with all its casualties and destruction will not give us the lift we need, neither will more outrage.