The Observer view on politicians who refuse to accept blame

A pledge by Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, to resign if his new plan to combat drugs and violence in 10 target jails does not work stood out in a week when politicians of every stripe devoted themselves to dodging blame and shirking responsibility. From Italy and Turkey to India and the US, elected leaders failed to show leadership at moments of acute public distress, often choosing instead to point the finger at others. Is this a modern phenomenon or has it always been thus?

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The instant search for scapegoats in Italy following Tuesday’s fatal bridge collapse in Genoa has been as unedifying as it is unenlightening. Several possible culprits have already been identified: the bridge operators, the architect, corrupt contractors, past governments and EU-imposed austerity. This last accusation, by Matteo Salvini, the far-right deputy prime minister, was especially scurrilous – a crude attempt to use the tragedy to bolster a political agenda. It seems Italy’s quest for answers will not be helped by its political bosses.

Turkey’s citizens have not been any better served. Last week’s calamitous currency devaluation, coupled with unchecked inflation, will cause real hardship. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, blamed the market meltdown on a wrong-headed US decision to raise tariffs. He said the country has been “stabbed in the back” by foreign conspirators. But Erdoğan knows this is far from the whole story. Debt-funded economic expansion in recent years, including many grandiose infrastructure projects, was driven by Erdoğan’s desire to leave a momentous personal legacy. This bubble was set to burst long before the sanctions row erupted, punctured by his own bungling. He called early elections in June because he knew a storm was brewing. Now he shamelessly attempts to shift responsibility.

In India, the flood emergency in south-western Kerala state is raising awkward political questions about disaster preparedness and prevention. Bihar and Tamil Nadu have donated money and medicines to the rescue effort. Relief camps and helplines have been set up and the armed forces have readily jumped in to help. But Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, merely looked on from above, “surveying” the state by helicopter.

“Our country is dealing with an unprecedented disaster and we cannot play blame game right now,” said Kerala’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. That may suffice for a while. But once the immediate threat has passed, politicians also need to explain why scientific studies warning of a rising flood risk in Kerala caused by global warming and deforestation were not acted on. Those in power must take responsibility not only for urgent disaster relief but also for the long-term needs of millions of displaced flood victims and the underlying neglect that caused, or at least exacerbated, the tragedy. Who truly believes they will?

Donald Trump, a top contender for the title of world’s most irresponsible politician, was the ungrateful recipient last week of a timely lesson in the duties, obligations and necessary qualities of leadership. Denouncing Trump’s cancellation of the security clearance of John Brennan, a former CIA chief and fierce critic of the president, William McRaven, a decorated retired admiral famous for overseeing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, came out with all guns blazing.

McRaven wrote: “Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs. A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organisation. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself. Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.”

Even by the fractious norms of contemporary American political discourse, this is an extraordinary rebuke. Yet Trump thoroughly deserves the admiral’s thundering broadside. The leadership example he sets is one of bullying, threats, mendacity, political cowardice and constant blame-shifting. Its effect is corrosive of democracy everywhere. Following Trump’s latest threat to ostracise and silence more senior officials who don’t agree with him, his rogue presidency slipped further into outright authoritarianism.

Perhaps, as we suggested at the start, politicians have always tended to dodge responsibility and blame. And perhaps modern-day pressures, such as 24-hour news and the instant judgments of social media, encourage superficial political reactions and simplistic, black-and-white problem analysis. Rightwing populism does not “do” complexity. Experts are scorned, conspiracy theories involving malevolent outsiders are embraced. Policy is for nerds. Its political mouthpieces cannot countenance nuance, let alone failure. They are asked for, and provide, immediate gut answers – which are almost invariably wrong.

It may be that what we are currently witnessing around the world is no one-week blip, but accumulating evidence of a serious falling away of standards of conduct in public life, as delineated by McRaven. At a time of great global disharmony and deep divisions at home, we need, more than ever, to be able to trust our leaders. And we need leaders worthy of our trust.