PR and the role of the enemy
Theresa May stood up at the Lord Mayor’s banquet at London’s Guildhall on Monday evening and accused Russia of seeking to weaponise information: using fake stories and photo-shopped images to sow discord in the west. She added meddling in elections and hacking the Danish Ministry of Defence, the Bundestag and others to the list of inappropriate international activities. The full speech is here.
PR and the role of the enemy: case study
Theresa May pictured with Vladimir Putin in 2016. Now she accuses him of trying to destabilise western democracies.
Now, I have been going on, in private, about Russia’s likely meddling in both the Brexit referendum and the last UK general election for a considerable period of time. I am not close to power so I have no proof but there is enough evidence out there to make me deeply suspicious. But no one was talking about it: until now.
I was extremely thrilled last week when I saw the cover of that excellent round up of the week’s news The Week.
And I am pleased that the Prime Minister of the day is now raising the alarm about the likely, sinister action of Russia; using social media (and particularly social media bots), fake news and other tactics to destabilise western democracies.
But I am deeply suspicious about the timing of Mrs. May’s sudden apparent interest in this.
PM criticises Russia, but why now?
The information about suspected Russian meddling has been around for months if not more. It is true the press were writing more about it this month but there was no major new information. It seems Edward Lucas of the Times brought it into the mainstream (sadly this article is behind The Times paywall). I wonder if it just popped into his head or whether someone in Whitehall sowed the seed.
The question is, why is Mrs May speaking about this now?
Well as a cynic, I would answer that it is because the government needs an enemy to unite us. One that is not anything to do with our negotiating partners in the Brexit talks. And here we have it: President Putin and the threat to the international order. As a political or PR tactic it is as old as the hills. Here is an article in Psychology Today that explores this very issue.
Headlines about Russia’s meddling are ‘manna from heaven’ for an embattled Prime Minister who has on her hands rumbling sex scandals, the Paradise Papers, stalled Brexit talks and forced cabinet reshuffles due to amateur empire building by the former Minister for the Department of International Development. And that is before we get to the Boris and Gove double act. My guess is that the Russia section of the speech was suggested or developed by Robbie Gibb ( who I blogged about back in July) to give Mrs. May a few benign headlines. And it certainly worked.
Lindsay Williams is based in London but runs training sessions in multiple time zones, including the US, Europe, Africa and Asia, working online or travelling to host small and large scale training events. With 20 years of experience as a communications consultant with corporations and international organisations, Lindsay also runs Personal Impact Training and Pitching Via Zoom courses.
- Why Mick Lynch is Right to be Wary of Pre-recorded Interviews - April 16, 2024
- Takeaways from Netflix Scoop: The Prince Andrew Interview - April 10, 2024
- Kate Shows How to Read Autocue - March 26, 2024
Lindsay – interesting blog, but begs the question: “who is the enemy?” It could be argued that Mrs May’s enemies are the die-hard sceptics (Major’s “Bastards”) on her own back bench who want a hard Brexit. It’s equally clear that Russia is pleased to see the EU slowly disintegrating (UK, and Catalonia, while applicant states – notably Turkey – are getting cold feet). The eastward expansion of the EU into former Warsaw Pact states is now looking like a footnote of history. Treble vodkas all round in the Kremlin. So actually, the “Bastards” are serving unwittingly as Lenin’s “useful idiots”. Mrs May’s Guildhall speech was directed equally at the Kremlin and the “Bastards” as a reminder of realpolitik. It may well have had a secondary aim of cheering up the UK’s friends in Langley who’ve been keeping a low profile with their knowledge of Russia’s surprisingly effective new media propaganda success.