If the Express wants to decry hypocrisy, it should take a long hard look in a mirror.
The Express pulled no punches this week, launching a characteristically shallow and sensationalist attack on Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband.
“Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband’s hypocrisy threatening to tear Labour apart,” was the headline.
The piece begins with typical tabloid theatrics: “Angela Rayner vowed to take on the nimbys stopping new homes being built, so Cabinet pal Ed Miliband must be number one on her hit list.”
It continues that “Windy Mili” (yes yet another derogatory media nickname for Miliband), wants to cover the countryside in turbines but objects to luxury flats being built in his leafy neighbourhood.
“Or, to be specific, wife Dame Justine Thornton, a Labour campaigner and High Court judge, has written a letter of objection to the development.”
Somehow, this is evidence of Labour imploding.
The report then attempts to rope Rayner into the so-called hypocrisy, noting she objected to housing developments in her own constituency. What the Express omits – or more likely ignores – is the basic nuance that not all developments are created equal. Objecting to specific projects that may lack infrastructure, affordability, or community consultation does not amount to a blanket opposition to housing.
As ever, right-wing commentators are confusing the particular and the general. It is perfectly possible to take a general position that we need more houses while registering objections to specific planning applications. Whether those objections are to do with overloaded infrastructure, the absence of affordable housing, or the well-being of newts, a robust planning approval process exists precisely to resolve matters.
But here comes the best part of the Express’ coverage:
“There is a reason why Nigel Farage is flying high in the polls and why Boris Johnson tempted Labour voters over to the Tories for the first time. It’s the same reason Donald Trump is back in the White House.”
The Express assures its readers that these populist figures are succeeding because “the world hates a hypocrite.”
The irony, of course, is monumental.
No mention, for instance, that Nigel Farage – the supposed anti-elite crusader – is worth an estimated £3.2 million, something that the Express has previously reported itself. He earns over £1 million a year just from presenting on GB News, with additional outside income far outstripping any MP in Westminster.
Reform’s self-styled man of the people probably does believe the nonsense he talks, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t also a career opportunist cashing in on anti-establishment rhetoric.
Ahead of the local elections, TUC chief Paul Newark acknowledged voters’ frustrations but says Reform hasn’t got the answers. Nigel Farage is a “political fraud and hypocrite” who is “cosplaying” as a working-class champion in order to win votes, said Newark.
Then there’s Boris Johnson, whom the Express attempts to repackage as “greener than green.” This is the same Boris Johnson who flouted COVID rules while demanding strict public compliance, partying behind closed doors as the rest of the country sacrificed and suffered.
And Donald Trump? A convicted felon, whose disdain for the law is well-documented, yet who continuously claims to be the law’s staunchest defender. His record is a litany of ethical violations, legal transgressions, and blatant lies – all while insisting he alone can restore “law and order.”
Oh, the hypocrisy of the right-wing press! If the Express wants to decry hypocrisy, it should take a long hard look in a mirror.
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