Liberals are not to blame for Trump. It’s the appeasement of wrongful views, from likeable faces like Jonathan Pie, Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders that has led us to this dark, dark place.

America has not got more racist. Politicians have just been more willing to legitimise or sympathise with misguided opinions. Finding ourselves in Plato’s ‘late stage democracy’, where ‘demagogues’ like Trump and Corbyn – yes, you heard me – tap into the anger of the people means that even so much as questioning the ideas behind anti-immigration views is a sure-fire vote-killer.

Democracy, as I have warned, relies upon a level of elitism: it is not a negative kind of elitism, but the mediation of democracy by a knowledgeable and elected group – in the case of Britain, that means MPs. Is not a more well-read person’s perspective on an issue more important? This is not controversial or patronising – it’s how society has functioned for thousands of years. No judgement is being made on the character of any one voter, but we must be allowed to criticise.

Today, I watched a video of political satirist Jonathan Pie (real name Tom Walker) claiming that the liberal elite are at fault for Trump: we did not listen to people’s concerns. We called them ‘racist’ or ‘sexist’ in order to shut them down. Good for you, Mr Pie, and aren’t you a saint for recognising this? Of course, he’s wrong: the real ideologues are those who will not hear any criticism of their viewpoint – that is, many Brexit and Trump voters. It was once taboo for a politician to tell a racist joke. What loses votes now is calling someone out for being mistaken on issues such as immigration.

The Facebook posts telling us that ‘we must wake up and see the problems of the working people’ are confirming the fact that it has become a sure-fire election-loser to critique the wrongful views of the electorate. Modern demagogue Jeremy Corbyn has shown himself to be a spineless populist in appeasing voters’ misinformed opinions about Brexit.

Brexit means Brexit – and that our political language needs to change

In today’s politics, it takes real bravery to be the one to stand up for vital systems which keep our democracy in check. Jonathan Pie and Jeremy Corbyn are not martyrs. These appeasers are the real reason that both Brexit and Trump have struck us down. We are entering the darkest period of our living history, and the only way we can prevent a catastrophic disaster is by educating, critiquing, and doing everything possible to uphold the principles of democracy. We will not fight populism with populism: we must not concede ground where that ground is riddled with lies.