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‘Rejoice’ revisited: dystopian democracy
We move from partygate to blame games, never acknowledging the bigger picture that even arch-neoliberal forums like Davos can no longer avoid. The answers are out there, but our political elite will be the last to listen, writes ALAN SIMPSON
A panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

JUST over 40 years ago, on April 26 1982, Margaret Thatcher weaponised the word “rejoice.”

It became a term that would forever divide the nation; the assassin’s kiss Thatcherite zealots would use, as much against their own “one nation” Tories as against Labour and the poor.

Thatcher’s “rejoice” announced Britain’s first “victory” in the Falklands/Malvinas war. It symbolised the shift into a politics where winning was the only thing that mattered.

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