Accompanies Phil Tinline's BBC Radio 4 series Conspiracies: The Secret Knowledge
It is comforting, here in oh-so-sensible Britain, to think that people who fall for conspiracy theories are just crazy, or American, or both. But that’s a little too easy. One spur to conspiracist thinking is the fear, or reality, of overwhelming defeat by a hostile force - and in democratic politics, that goes with the territory. When your opponents are in government, it’s all too tempting to see your plight as the work of dark forces.
Ever since the advent of mass democracy in Britain in 1918, mainstream politics has been coloured by fears of devious plots at the heart of power. One side detects the hidden hand of bankers, tycoons, and democracyhating generals. The other shudders at the thought of shadowy infiltrators in the civil service, the media and the unions.
Conspiracy thinking has tended to be stronger on the left, which has spent much more time out of power than in it. In 1931, for example, the Labour Party was in office for only the second time, with no majority, as unemployment soared towards 3 million. As the benefits bill forced up borrowing, confidence slumped, and investors hurried to sell sterling. Labour chancellor Philip Snowden feared uncontrollable inflation. The government desperately needed to reduce spending and secure
