Redemption: The Bizarre Changes In My Political Views The Morning After

Had I planned this blog post last night, it would have been a rant post about how everyone was wrong and I was right. That’s an exaggeration, but I think you get the feeling I’m talking about.

However, I woke up this morning with a re-aligning of my political views.

Firstly- and one of the most drastic for me- is that I finally accepted Tony Blair as a good Prime Minister, maybe one of the best. This doesn’t forgive his war, it doesn’t forgive the privatisation of various public services that started under his watch, or enjoying the poisoned apple of the Murdoch press. But, on a continuum, if we returned to a Blair administration today, it would be a far more progressive government than the one we are staring at now. It would certainly help more of our most vulnerable in society. It wouldn’t be as radical as I would have liked… But it would be much more of a positive force for good. And, on top of that, have the mandate of the British people.

The second for me was finally accepting the EU referendum result. I think it will make life harder for us in the long run, and think it will be a sad day for internationalist politics as a whole when it happens. But I am at the point I would rather be under a Labour government- whether Blair or Corbyn- whilst leaving the EU than the Tories.

I found more subtle things changing within me as well. If I were to re-join the Labour Party, I would much more likely vote for a moderate candidate than when I voted for Corbyn a few years ago. I agree with Corbyn much more- but would rather a Labour government actually in power, able to enact at least some of these beneficial policies.

This isn’t where I lay the blame on Corbyn, unlike most on the centre-left. At the end of the day, he was voted as leader by members of the party. He was elected- twice- on a platform that was clear to members, and that he delivered. Sadly, that platform turned out not to be one that would have won this election.

Now isn’t the time to ostracise movements such as Momentum. Instead, invite them to the table, to return the party to the coalition of varied views that make up the centre-to-left spectrum; along with New Labour, Progress, Compass, The Fabian Society, The Co-operative Party and of course the trade unions.

This is the Labour party I would like to return to. We are far, far stronger united and with the common goal of Social Democratic values; improving the Welfare State; improving the lives of the most vulnerable in society than apart.

Exasperation.

Exasperation. That is the only word I have about the state of political play at the moment. Now, more than ever, it seems impossible for anyone to have a balanced view: whether "Brexiteer" or "Remoaner", alt-right or "Social Justice Warrior"... Every point of view has a box, or a label, that it belongs to: and every point of view has an ulterior motive. "You would think that" being the natural response.

At this point, I believe it only fair to state my own views. I am a passionate believer in the EU. Some of that is because it melds with my values: that we can be greater as a whole than the sum of our parts. And, that with political as well as an economic union, we are much less likely to go to war. That could be labelled as a rather extreme position, but that position extends internationally. I also strongly support our membership of the UN. And the politics of compromise across nations set a gold standard for the rest of the world. I believe leaving the EU will be one of the biggest mistakes of our generation.

Despite having what some would describe as an "extremist remain" point of view, my personality also very strongly veers me to the solution with the most compromise between groups. Was I an MP, I would have voted for Brexit 4 times by now. This has certain caveats: if I were elected in my constituency specifically on a "stop Brexit" message, I would not have done (i.e. as a Lib Dem or Green Party MP). But, were I a Labour or Conservative backbencher, I would have very likely voted for each of these "deals" (which, let's face it, are nothing of the sort: they are merely the withdrawal agreement... Or rather, the agreement about how we will start to negotiate a deal).

I would do this because we had an election just a year AFTER the 2016 referendum. More than that, one of the strongest messages of the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum was how important the link between a constituent and their MP is. The excuse that the MPs party campaigned on a "leave" manifesto isn't good enough for me. Under our current voting system, the burden is on the voter to find out where their MP lies. Put simply: in 2017, the people had ample opportunity to vote in a Brexit MP if they so desired. (Ironically, I would have far more sympathy if an MEP didn't vote along with their party in the EU Parliament!! As you vote for a party, rather than an individual).

Meanwhile, we have a newly formed Liberal Party... Which basically are the eurosceptic Lib Dems who were kicked out or left their old party. To me, before the EU referendum, the whole selling point of the Lib Dems were that they were a democratic party... That individual opinons are taken into account and voted on... "Democratic" is literally in its name! The stereotypical Lib Dem was portrayed as wearing shorts and sandals at conferences; something I have heard some Lib Dems are "thankful" is dying out. Personally, this makes me sad! To me this suggested, when it came to policy-making, you didn't have to be a stereotypical suit. It spoke of a party that contained a wide range of views. The Lib Dems were a party that were able to go into coalition even with the "evil Tories"... something that, to me, is a very open-minded thing to do. I will always think the Lib Dems were sincere in that coalition; whether the Tories were is debateable. The betrayal for me was the University Fee fiasco; simply because that was a pledge individual MPs made, rather than purely being a party policy... It comes back to the MP-Constituency link. Personally, I believe the Lib Dems acted as a buffer in that coalition... Just think, if the coalition still existed, there probably wouldn't even have been an EU Referendum in the firstplace!!

The final part of this essay/long-form ramble was about "truth". This was the thing that started me off writing in the first place: how will Brexit directly benefit or harm me as an individual? Versus: How will remaining in the EU benefit or harm me as an individual?... However I might do this tomorrow. I might never do it.