One atrocity can be hijacked to cloak and justify punitive welfare cuts.

Evidence

So they win again. If anything is to be taken from the miserable time we endured last week, it must be to learn some lessons about how the enemy operates. It couldn’t have worked much better from their point of view. A series of punitive attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable in society ended up being simultaneously cloaked and justified by the brazen hijacking of an appalling, aberrant act of violence. This is one part of the “legacy of Thatcher” that we will be invited to reflect upon in the coming days. The bitter edge to all those leftist celebrations of Thatcher’s death is all too evident. She retired from the field of class war twenty years ago, her work a spectacular success. Looking at Britain now — a country much more Thatcherite than when she left office — she could have died a happy woman. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1687

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader k-punk theme of Thatcherism continuing past Thatcher’s death — ideological victory outliving the politician.