New politics, a new hope

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.