POLITICS in PUBS Newcastle: Rubber Meanings: a definition-stretch too far?

Rubber Meanings: a definition-stretch too far?
Notes from meeting held on 14^th April 2026

What is 'definition-stretching' and how does it work? POLITICS in PUBS Newcastle member Phil Miles introduced his new book Rubber Meanings, asking how we should respond to the ubiquitous use of terms such as racism, hate and misogyny in today's public discourse.

In April, POLITICS in PUBS Newcastle hosted author and PiPs contributor Phil Miles for a discussion on his new book Rubber Meanings: How Activists and Biased Journalists Use 'Definition-Stretching' To Smear Their Opponents and Whitewash Bad Behaviour.

Rubber Meanings examines contemporary words of condemnation such as"far-right", "racist", "misogynist", "hate", "phobia", and others equally familiar, and argues these are often disingenuously broadened in meaning to smear or silence political opponents. It also looks at more positive words and phrases: "refugee", "protest" and "democracy", whose meanings have been expanded to provide moral cover for the bad behaviour of political allies.

Whilst a case could be made that both the Right and Left in politics are open to such accusations, a crucial difference is that the Left seem to exaggerate their claims to emphasise their view of the world as they would like it to be, whereas the Right seek to emphasise their view of the world as they think it actually is.

This has gone beyond a simple political war of words, because so many of our institutions-the media, universities, and legal profession-have become dominated by left-wing views, making open and balanced debate almost impossible. Even relevant dictionary definitions of these words have evolved beyond bland fact to statements of ideological position.

Are people arriving on boats from France really refugees-especially given that France is a safe country? Does forced displacement-wrong though it may be-truly amount to genocide?

In the discussion, the issue of consequent harms arose, especially to wider society, not simply to those unjustly smeared. In particular, the recent Southport Inquiry suggested some trying to warn about the danger posed by Axel Rudakubana were silenced by "anti-racist activists".

The counter point was raised that the Southport Inquiry had found poor communication between agencies to be the problem. However, the Inquiry did mention the specific instance of one person being accused of stereotyping Rudakubana as "a black boy with a knife". Other similar examples were raised, including the Valdo Calocane case, the Manchester Arena bombing and-of course-the grooming gangs, all where fear of being called "racist" may have prevented interventions that would have stopped the crimes. The latter point in the discussion stimulated a reminder that many muslims were law-abiding and kind, and that there was a political agenda at work in the discussion. However, as one participant remarked, there is a clue in the title (Politics in Pubs). Others chipped in that they too were activists and that PiPs participants don't agree with each other on politics. Indeed they don't! Nevertheless, this lively interaction may have inadvertently captured the underlying dynamic of the debate surrounding the use of the term "racism".

Populism - and, by implication, democracy? - too, was challenged on the basis that Hitler was popular. Those discussed were just a few instances among the many examples in Rubber Meanings. The other terms examined in the book are likely to be just as thought provoking.

Links

Rubber Meanings (book) by P.J. Miles

Hansard: debate on Southport Inquiry

Martin Evison, 2026

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