Why Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson are now threats to democracy

Less than four years ago, a violent mob, whipped up by misinformation and bad faith actors, ran riot in the US Capitol. Today the man who encouraged and stood to benefit from that political violence, if it had succeeded, is an even bet to be elected as President of the United States.

As the UK faces down our own wave of misinformation-fuelled rioting, albeit less directly targeted at our democratic institutions, we must learn the lesson from our American cousins – and refuse any attempt to normalise political violence.

We have seen volatile issues whipped up through misinformation and disinformation campaigns in recent weeks. The initial spark was the murder of three innocent children in Southport, but the riots and far-right agitation have rapidly gained a life of their own. That is no surprise given how prepared some people have been to amplify false information in order to whip up the flames of anger.

There is some hope now that the worst of the disorder has already passed, but we cannot afford to be complacent. In the short term, the problem may primarily be a matter of policing and the courts, but in the long term, we need political solutions to the issues thrown up by these riots. Violence and threats of violence cannot become normalised in the way that they increasingly have been in the United States.

Blighted by bigotry

Who, after all, could have imagined as we watched those horrifying scenes in January 2021, that condemnation would slowly turn into passive acceptance, as Donald Trump not only shook off accountability for his role in that assault on democracy, but won his party’s nomination for president again?

With prominent politicians in our own country – indeed even Conservative leadership candidates – endorsing Mr Trump, it should be clear that we cannot take the previous consensus against political violence and disinformation campaigns for granted.

Yousaf demands 'evil' EDL terrorist proscription following Southport riot

Whether Parliament is recalled early or not, every party in the House of Commons must make it clear that they stand with the communities who have been blighted by this violence and bigotry, and not with those responsible for the chaos. Those who have whipped up anger in our communities and those who have sought to justify the violence on our streets have a duty to defend their behaviour. This cannot become our new normal.

Facing down political violence

There are political actors, whether in Parliament, in our wider country or beyond our borders, who have a vested interest in portraying our national community as in some way “broken”. They conjure up societal collapse and then present themselves as the solution.

Whether it’s Tommy Robinson from his sun lounger in Cyprus or the increasingly deranged Elon Musk on X/Twitter, those who wish to push a narrative of inevitable civil conflict are not acting in good faith – and they are putting the stability of our democracy at risk.

The bedrock of liberal democracy is the belief that we resolve our differences in debate and at the ballot box, rather than through violence. Democracy, however, is only ever as strong as the people who uphold it. If we cannot face down political violence and those who would seek to normalise it, then America’s present may be our future before too long.

Alistair Carmichael is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland