Is Brexit the rebellion
of the voiceless?
No
this is not another Star Wars themed blog!
Yesterday
evening I attended the Nexit: What next for
Plymouth and the South West event organised by RIO and the RSA
at Devonport Guildhall. Around 200 people showed up - a sign of increasing
politicization maybe and great to see so many engaged people. The waiting list
was nearly as long as the attendance list apparently.
So a
big turnout. And big ideas were discussed. There were initial ‘provocations’
from Molly Scott-Cato, Green MEP for the South West; George Cowcher, Director
of Devon Chamber of Commerce, John Harris, a Guardian political journalist with a
penchant for anything non-Westminster and two young people - Joe
and Tom from Our Way Tech.
Molly
asked for a second referendum, proportional representation and a need to
reclaim our country. Citizen’s juries and a ‘progressive alliance’
of Greens, Lib-Dems and Labour were also mooted.
George
gave a precise talk about business issues post Brexit. He said a majority of
businesses wanted to remain in the EU and that there was still no real vision
for what leaving looked like. In the South West we are particularly vulnerable
to potential export problems caused by Brexit as 60% of our exports go to
Europe. The main point that resonated with me was his direct question to
business: “Exactly what ‘red tape’ do you want to change?” There is a lot of
bluster about EU regulation but no-one can seemingly put their finger on what
they want to remove.
Joe
gave an eloquent and heartfelt speech (written on the back of a napkin in an
impressive five minutes) expressing his fears about right-wing populism and
invoking the spectre of fascism. Tom produced one of the quotes of the night: “A
window has been broken - but that is good for people who fix windows.” I was
left a bit bemused.
John
Harris then gave an excellent talk on his approach, Brexit and the deep
cynicism about politics. He said that a leave vote was just as valid as a
remain vote and that we need to understand why Brexit happened. He called the
Brexit vote a ‘rebellion of the voiceless’. In a telling moment he asked if
anyone in the room had voted leave and only one or two people raised their
hands.
We
then had discussions in table groups. I was honoured to be asked to lead one of
these. Our topics ranged widely over education, housing, environment,
representation, inequality, economics and more.
We
decided to develop our own new political party - the ‘Greater Britain Party’ -
taking back the language of ‘great’ and ‘Britain’ from the far right with a new
progressive manifesto:
1. Talk about politics in schools and everywhere
2. Proportional representation
3. Lower the voting age to 16
4. Sort housing and jobs
5. Improve environmental protection.
Ok,
so some work needed on the detail but it was fun, lively, inclusive, honest
and had real conviction.
What
I found particularly refreshing was the ability to talk about politics in a
community, non-party political setting. It felt natural and engaging. Yes, most
people were in broad agreement but judging from responses there was a mix of
Greens, Lib-Dems and Labour (new and old) and possibly some Conservatives too.
I
think the event could have been improved with a ‘Leave’ key-note speaker and
maybe we needed more dissent in the room around the opportunities presented by
Brexit. A criticism could be that it was a large number of ‘Remainers’ talking
to themselves.
John
Harris wrapped things up with a call to arms - to find innovative solutions -
one being found in Plymouth’s burgeoning social enterprise movement. His most powerful argument
was his last. He said: “Dark forces are at work in the country - any attempt to
overturn the referendum result through legal or other means could further
disenfranchise the ‘voiceless’ turning them to more extreme politics.”
We
must not let that happen.
