By Sally Campbell. Featured image credit: John Campbell
With the world news so depressing and with the war in Ukraine, genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, and what appears to me, a series of nutcases running most of the world, intent on amassing vast fortunes for themselves, throwing away democratic processes, sexist, racist and controlling our lives through the use of social media, and the internet and of course President’s decrees; it has been a month of discovering I am far from the only one who is feeling as if the values I was raised with in post-world war II, are being ditched and individual entitlement is taking its place. It has become OK to denigrate anyone who is not coping, who is homeless, is “foreign”, is unemployed, needs help with childcare, make-up wrong, on low wages etc etc. All this often done anonymously on-line.
A bit of history! The post-war consensus, sometimes called the post-war compromise, was the economic order and social model of which the major political parties in post-war Britain shared a consensus supporting view, from the end of World War II in Europe in 1945 to the late-1970s. It ended during the governance of Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher. The consensus tolerated or encouraged nationalisation, strong trade unions, heavy regulation, high taxes, and an extensive broad welfare state. A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. In other words, justice under the law, housing provision, educational opportunity, employment, social protection, pensions, sick pay and a national health service.
What about now? Amplified by mainstream media, which is now mostly taken over by right wing media, owned largely by 3 groups (full of egos who feel entitled to take pot shots at everyone who at that moment they find fault with. Sometimes an individual, sometimes an organisation like the BBC). See the Appendix. Amplified by social media in its dire forms. So many ”living” only on their small screens, never facing the real consequences of the unpleasant pieces they place into the electronic world or are influenced by others there. So, how do we get young people especially to engage with the world outside of screens, and avoid the dark places on the net placed there to generate income for someone, somewhere, whose motive is just money and maybe millions of “likes”. The 12 years of right-wing government in the UK, until 2024 saw community support closed down or underfunded, support for families cut, schools and hospitals short changed of funding, and the wealthy paying or contributing less tax of putting funds off-shore in tax avoidance schemes often in British Independent Territories or Crown Dependencies, such as Cayman Islands British Virgin Islands and Jersey (for list see Appendix).
But there are other ways of thinking and doing! This week I listened to the first of this year’s 4 Reith Lectures on BBC Radio. Rutger Bregman’s 2025 Reith Lectures, called “Moral Revolution”, the first one entitled A Time of Monsters, explored the moral decay and un-seriousness of today’s elites, drawing historical parallels to past eras of corruption that preceded transformative movements, especially the 19th Century campaign to abolish slavery. In his series, he argues that small, committed groups can spark moral revolutions, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and long-term vision. Bregman advocates for a new “realist utopia” in the face of rapid technological change, promoting ideas like Universal Basic Income, fairer taxation and responsible tech regulation. Finally, he zooms out to reflect on humanity’s strange historical trajectory, warning of the existential risks posed by unchecked AI and urging privileged individuals to take in an active role in shaping a better future.
This hour programme, the first of 4 is on Tuesday mornings between 9.00-10am and then on BBC Sounds. It lifted my spirit. I am not alone in despair about the present trajectory. Rutger, a Dutch historian shot to prominence at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos when he told a room full of billionaires that no one was raising “the real issue of tax avoidance and of the rich just not paying their fair share”. He compared it to attending “a firefighter’s conference and no one is allowed to speak about water” and dismissed “stupid philanthropic schemes” in favour of blunt solutions: “Taxes, taxes, taxes. All the rest is bulls**t”. He was not invited back. The new message for the elites is different: Stop wasting your lives: too often graduates from elite institutions are too busy using exceptional talent to merely create money for themselves and he wants them to show moral ambition using exceptional talent to tackle civilisations-scale problems rather than merely lucrative ones. He is using his own funds for a non-profit organisation, The School of Moral Ambition. That sounds promising!!
Another excellent BBC programme series for dark evenings!
Another way to learn more about the context of our lives and present “learned, historical behaviour” is from the past experiences of the Empire which Britain developed and about the powerful East India Company. In these three one-hour programmes on BBC 2 or on BBC iplayer under the Title the British Empire, David Olusoga, Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester tells the story of the British Empire from its origins under Elizabeth 1 to the establishment of colonies in America, the Caribbean and India. These link in well to much of the disquiet about “foreigners” played upon by Reform and others.
A recent theme across the developed world, notably the USA and Europe, including the UK is the disquiet about foreigners, refugees and “others”. In the UK, this can be about promoting the UK as ”ethnically pure”. Fear of losing out because “they” use housing, get benefits etc, have a different culture, are clannish, have accents. I say “Hey, wait a minute. Many, over the centuries have supported our nation, helped other folk and settled in as citizens”. So much of Reform’s rhetoric is more about anger at the present position of themselves or their communities post the Thatcherite free market, capitalist revolution, now over 40 years ago; the left behind communities and the fear of the future; easier to “blame” someone, anyone, for their misfortune. Incomers are easy targets. After the Ice Age our islands were recolonised by others, and over the centuries many came as refugees from wars, religious persecution, often changing their surnames to “fit in”. My maiden surname Chivers comes, it is believed, from the Old French for female goat, chevre. They were we think, French Protestants who fled persecution and settled in Britain, particularly London, between the 16th and 18th centuries. They significantly impacted the British economy, contributing skilled trades like silk weaving (Spitalfields), silversmithing, watchmaking, and printing, which helped transform Britain into a major industrial power. Many Huguenots were welcomed, but their arrival, particularly in the late 17th century, was also the first major recorded example of a refugee influx in England. I am still asked on Arran where are you from? (accent not Scottish even if a Campbell!) We have lived in Lamlash since 2004, that is longer than I have lived anywhere. Am I sufficiently “local”, or still an English misfit?
So, we need to learn more about the UK past, the influxes and furthermore how we also came to be here, there and everywhere. So, I strongly suggest you find time and settle down to learn more about the Empire. My guess is many of us learned about Clive of India, Australia discovery by Cook and the sending of British convicts to Van Diemen’s Land now Tasmania, and in more recent times have witnessed increased interest in Britain’s role in the slave trade and plantations in the Caribbean and the American Colonies. These programmes are a much better overview of the British Empire, its spread, its huge wealth created not for the local people but for the UK, such as inhabitants in the City of Bath and Bristol.
The times of Empire is where we learned about “our superiority and power”. We all need to be reminded about how much our history remains in our behaviours ages later, shown in the way we treat those different in background, gender, education, race, wealth and even accent than ourselves. Reform is intent in magnifying these differences; Reform magnify…”foreigners should be sent back”. Should I go back to France?? How about many Scots to Ireland, or “Viking” countries. Most of us are indeed “foreigners” by Reform definitions, even with 6 generations raised on Arran!
Policies that discriminate against any sector of our human populations sows the seeds of discontent and alienation, separation. Pointing fingers. It is not so long-ago Catholics were not allowed to worship on Arran by the Duke of Hamilton. We all need to work on our inclusion skills and behaviours. Arran in itself has been enriched over the centuries by incomers, many to work here, fishermen, foresters, hoteliers, medical and school staff, some for holidays, and some for permanent residents as retirees, all contributing to the richness of our culture here on Arran. I note that under APPENDIX 1 – ISLAND COMMUNITIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR ISLE OF ARRAN is also proposing the development of an admissions policy to prioritise those with familial ties on the island to access the Montrose House beds. Who does this exclude or indeed include?
Sally Campbell
November 2025
With thanks to our BBC too!
References:
Bregman, Rutger (2025) Moral Ambition. Bloomsbury Publishing
Dalrymple, William (2019) The Anarchy: The Relentless rise of the East India Company. Bloomsbury
APPENDIX for further interest
WHO OWNS THE UK MEDIA REPORT 2025
The Media Reform Coalition has published a new edition of its flagship ‘Who Owns the UK Media?’ report, highlighting the dangerous levels of concentrated ownership across the UK’s national and local newspapers, broadcasters and tech platforms.
This 8th edition of Who Owns The UK Media? shows that our media system is in a perilous state due to the ongoing collapse in media plurality and the declining diversity of news sources.
• 7 of the top 15 online platforms used to access news in the UK are controlled by Meta, Google and X Corp. Google commands 93% of UK search engine use, while Meta and Google together account for three-fifths of all UK advertising spend, giving these two Big Tech companies unrivalled control over how news is found, accessed and funded online.
• Just three companies – DMG Media (Daily Mail Group), News UK (Murdoch Group) and Reach – control 90% of UK national newspaper circulation, a 20% increase in market concentration since 2014. These same three companies account for over 40% of the combined reach of the UK’s top 50 online news brands, giving these publishers significant power to set and steer the national news agenda.
• The UK’s local newspapers are dominated by a tiny handful of corporate chain publishers, with just 2 companies – Newsquest and National World – controlling 51% of the UK’s 882 local newspapers and online local news websites. More than 8 out of 10 Local Democracy Reporters, funded by the TV licence fee to restore local journalism, are contracted to Newsquest, Reach and National World – and these same companies control local newspaper monopolies in areas covering 11.6 million people.
• In commercial radio, just two companies – Bauer and Global – own two-thirds of the UK’s national DAB radio stations, and more than 60% of local analogue stations. Bauer, Global and News Broadcasting (owned by publishers News UK) together control more than three-quarters of the UK’s national DAB radio market.
• Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ account for 75% of all UK video-on-demand subscriptions. Almost half of the value of TV commissions by the UK’s major broadcasters went to just 12 companies, despite these largest producers making up only 4% of the entire UK independent production sector.
For information:
British Territories and Crown Dependencies
• Crown Dependencies
o Isle of Man
o Bailiwick of Jersey
o Bailiwick of Guernsey
• British Overseas Territories
o Gibraltar
o Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Saint Helena
Ascension
Tristan da Cunha
o Falkland Islands
o South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
o Pitcairn Islands
o Anguilla
o Montserrat
o Turks and Caicos
o Cayman Islands
o British Virgin Islands
o Bermuda
o British Indian Ocean Territory
o British Antarctic Territory
o Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia