Viewpoint

摘要

I have written before in these pages about the ways in which our politics is being changed by a widespread collapse of trust in institutions. This encompasses politics in general, the media, banks, large corporations and inevitably, to some extent, local government. A couple of months ago, I argued that while this is often talked about under the label of 'post truth' politics - that is, a politics in which people's beliefs are defined by emotional resonance rather than objective evidence - it makes more sense to talk about 'post institutional' or 'post trust' politics. This collapse in trust has many sources. Some are general - the changing nature of employment in post industrial economies; the differential effects of globalisation; rapid population changes in some communities. Some are more specific, such as the financial crisis of 2008 or the MP's expenses scandal of 2009. And to this list we must now, sadly, add the Grenfell Tower fire.