I wrote this a week or so ago when discussing what might happen if Remain won the referendum:
I believe that the challenge will be to create a short-term coalition of interests between the [Labour, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru and maybe some Northern Ireland] parties with the one, and only, focus of re-establishing a basis for government that reflects the best interests of the people of this country. Only by doing so can the credibility of these parties be restored, because this exercise would demonstrate to a deeply disenchanted population that politicians have listened to the message that they have been given.
People dislike their voices not being heard.
People want diversity inside the Westminster bubble.
People have had enough of the power of large corporations and want it to be constrained.
People have had enough of of the petty squabbling.
And, to most people's surprise, they have discovered that coalition does not necessarily lead to disaster.
So it is my suggestion that if there is a very small vote for Remain it is the job of all political parties to join together (although I very much doubt that the Conservatives will) to do these things:
- Agree on a basis for electoral reform
- Agree on the future of the House of Lords, and its reform
- Agree a broad programme of reforms to be demanded from the EU
- Agree policies on migration
This is not about abandoning party politics: this is about dealing with a national crisis where democracy itself is under threat, which threat the government is deepening rather than relieving by the decisions that it has taken. But, and this is the key point, this will take time, and as a result I do not believe it is in any opposition parties' interest to force a general election now.
I added this suggestion when discussing the potential consequence of a Brexit vote and the Article 50 negotiations not being complete by 2020:
So what of 2020 in this case? I would live to think that a coalition dedicated to these things might be elected:
- Electoral reform
- House of Lords reform
- EU readmission on revised terms
- A national economic plan.
This government should, I suggest, seek a mandate for no more than two years. Then there would be new elections and a referendum on the terms for re-admission to the EU.
I note I am not the only person thinking in this way. Paul Mason is too. He has argued for a five point plan:
1. Force a general election within 6 months.
2. Labour, the SNP/Plaid and Greens to make electoral pact to keep UKIP out and stop a right wing Tory government destroying progressive legislation
3. Detailed Article 50 negotiations to be put on hold until new government in power
4. A Labour/SNP/Plaid/Green coalition government to negotiate terms of Brexit, aiming to stay in EEA if possible but in all cases to retain progressive laws on consumer rights, environmental protection, workers rights etc.
5. New government to call second Scottish referendum; with Devo Max on ballot and no-penalty arrangements for secession overseen by Treasury/BoE in case of Yes vote to independence.
There is a lot of common ground.
It is my hope that this thinking on a coalition in the national interest might develop. If now is not the time for it no time ever will be.
Paul and I are in touch.
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Might be worth signing this?
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/131215
I have
Yes well you ve already got three mill signaturex so won t be long before the scrotes get their wish
Only problem js you ll never get 60 percent ffor ANY result on a 75 percnt turnout so an exercise in futility.
No one signing this thinks otherwise
It is a demand for accountability, in my opinion
I assume that’s 60% of turnout not of electorate. How and why do you think turnout would affect the likelihood of achieving a 60% result?
I’m against the idea of another referendum, it smacks too much of “if democracy doesn’t give us the result we want, we’ll hold another referendum until it does”, and I also couldn’t face another 6 months of the, quite frankly, vile propaganda from both sides dominating the political landscape, while real issues remain unresolved.
Having said that, now that the Brexit leaders (Johnson, Gove, Farage) have effectively said in the news that all the promises made during the campaign were lies, it would be interesting to see how the vote would go a second time!
“Paul and I are in touch”
These are cheering words to hear, Richard.
We on the Left need unity and solidarity with those marginalised members of our society.
Paul speaks a lot of sense & with him I hope your message can reach more people.
How democratic to ‘Keep UKIP out’ I mean its not like they got more votes than the Greens and Lib dems combined at the election.
That’s how democracy works right now
With electoral reform they would get their say
I think the Labour Party is too screwed up for this to happen -look how they are behaving already, in an entirely inappropriate manner. They haven’t the nous to act beyond the level of the tribal (and Blairite tribal at that). It won’t work until Labour grow up.
There’s a pile of trash from Polly Toynbee on this very Corbyn bashing theme: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/25/jeremy-corbyn-referedum-campaign
Labour has let people down REPEATEDLY and failed to explain to the publuc what is going on and yet people like Hodge accuse Corbyn of being ‘lifeless’!
I do hope Labour can raise its game
I assume you picked up the herd of flying pings in your peripheral vision as you typed that.
Just heard gibbering nonsense from Evette-the-Government-is-a-household-Cooper who will, no doubt, see an opportunity for a ‘replay.’
Vince Cable fears that Labour will lose the white working class vote to UKIP and far right.
Where was Cooper?
These were interviews for RT’s Going Underground-seems like there was some ‘party’ for the press in Westminster. Like Burnham she mentioned ‘immigration’ as if it were some great insight – she’s positioning herself again with the wrong arguments, it’s yet another form of morphing to the perceived demands of the Overton Window which has been disastrous for Labour but they just aren’t learning.
I hope Labour wakes up soon
Hi Richard,
I am not an expert but surely if we are to re-enter the EEC (or deactivate Brexit) it should be after binding agreement to reform the EEC
I say “EEC” deliberately because that is what we joined. The EEC morphed into a railroad to EU (political union)
When did the populations of Europe vote on this political union and what percentage of each country actually want it?
The EEC requires political union. It’s purpose is to ensure goods, services and conditions are uniform across the EU. The fact that we don’t have comparable wages across the EU, resulting in the economic migration that causes all the problems, is more down to the neoliberals in the EU (where Britain were one of the major players) ensuring that the countries engage in a race to the bottom to maximise returns for capital where possible.
“The EEC requires political union”
Really?
It would be good if you could involve Varoufakis in your discussions with Paul Mason
I think this is the only way forward and feel enthusiastic and excited about it. The only question I have is: who would be the charismatic figurehead that could reach the diverse sections of the public s/he would need to and have enough gravitas to appear Prime Ministerial? That is the biggest challenge I see in the event of Paul’s ‘election within 6 months’ scenario. Corbyn is a fantastic asset to a progressive Labour Party, particularly his ability to engage and enthuse grassroots support within the Party, but having read this http://www.fabians.org.uk/brexit-voters-not-the-left-behind/ I am more convinced than ever that a different kind of progressive is needed to mobilise support from the broader population.
Also, what would such a coalition’s position be on ‘evidence’/honesty’ in this era of post truth politics and what communication strategy should it adopt to engage with mainstream media? Foucauldian power analysis has never seemed more relevant. http://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/foucault-power-is-everywhere/.
Do we need ‘charismatic figureheads’?
For me, Corbyn’s lack of charisma is a strength. The non-image manifestation that destroys immediately media expectation and is as counter-cultural as possible. The media failed to destroy him in its frantic efforts because it could not latch on to anything.
Corbyn reflects back to us that which our society cannot stand: the lack of facade.
I think we need leaders who reflect this emptiness. The era of the shyster, the creosote, the false consciousness, the white teeth, the perfect suit, the mouth-farting,doing the right thing – Corbyn, perhaps without being conscious of this himself, points in another direction that disempowers the self but not giving us the ‘goods’.
Sod charisma! haven’t we danced before these con men/women for too long?
Jeremy has charisma
He may not enjoy support
I think that Jeremy has loads of charisma – a lot of women do. I have a thing for men who don’t know how to dress, like trains, grow nice vegegables and declare themselves socialist;o)
I tick some on that list Carol….
Ok charisma is the wrong word, and I was careful in saying we need him to keep a coalition honest and principled. I’ve signed the petition to keep him as Labour leader. However, I have never seen him as a potential PM I’m afraid, more as a curator. That’s why I was wondering if a coalition would allow the best of both worlds, but perhaps I’m being naive.
Do you grow vegegables? I expect you do with your typing skills…
Between gardens right now so nothing growing at this moment … But I have been an allotment holder in my time (ten years) and grown many a spud, and more
It does seem a natural time to widen the social movement which we all know needs to happen at some point when the need is to take on the establishment and change structure.
Corbyn I think is not lacking but constrained, by the PLP neolib servants, media, by the system. Braking the first point of control ie.Labour internal hindrance should be enough, and a big Left Join-Up should do that because New Labour won’t take part.
That leaves ultra-right Kippers and Tories as a force against a strong coalition of left parties. In the middle, soft Tories and LibDems and New Labour types can try a third force of soft-right but ultimately they will have no oppositional theme with such a stance against hard-right shift.
So,they will have to support one of the two stronger forces either side of them. Surely an anti-hard right urge will mean the coalition of progressive strategies benefit.
The SNP can be presented with an opportunity to mend Britain that can potentially give them a choice of creating a progressive UK that Scotland sees acceptable to be in or to still seek independence from if Scots want that at a defined future point of say ten years of UK restructuring.
Caroline Lucas – progressive, principled, respected, and as the onlyMP from her party not seeking to advantage a particular bloc.
Corbyn should ask her to join the Shadow Cabinet now while the Blairites plot and undermine as first step to a detetmined new left and bye Blairites.
“Jeremy has charisma
”
Ha!!
If that s the case then Trump must be the Second Coming Incarnate!!
Im wondering why the LibDems are not on the list? Despite Cleggs misjudgments in the coalition and the subsequent slaughter of their MPs, there must be a large, potential pool of supporters out there whose politics would be broadly consistent with the views expressed here. They’ve also had a very effective set of local organisations in the past and have been the most consistently pro-Europe
As to Corbyn – yes the change in leadership led to a large increase in membership, mostly young I understand. But was it Corbyn per se that attracted them – or the promise of some substantially different policies? Whatever his other strengths, it is hard to argue that he is an inspiring man, likely to mobilise and enthuse voters from outside his immediate supporters. So far we have seen very little in terms of policies and his support for the Remain campaign was pretty lukewarm. His reaction post the vote left me feeling that it was probably the result he really wanted.
What both you and Paul are suggesting is that there is a gaping void in the centre/centre-left ground and that the smaller parties are best positioned to step into that space, but need to work in coalition. I wouldn’t rule out both Labour and Conservative MPs and members being interested, given the tensions and fragmentation in their own parties.
They should have been and will be on the next iteration
@Robin. As a CLP Secretary, I can tell you that people joined because they liked Corbyn and what he stands for. Where I live (Geriatrica-by-the-Sea) the majority who joined after Corbyn’s election certainly weren’t youngsters.
Same here, (Where I live Woodingdean in Brighton) the majority who joined after Corbyn’s election certainly weren’t youngsters.but they are becoming disillusioned – well certainly they were today. But anyway they aren’t the people that need to be persuaded to vote for a progressive party. What I’ve learned in recent weeks is that I live in an echo chamber surrounded by people with similar views and I need to get out and understand people that see the world quite differently and learn to win them over if there is any hope of getting the Tories out. The lesson of the week is the need for a more reflexive kind of politics.
Yes Bournemouth can be relatively quiet this time of year.
I joined for Corbyn *and* his policies – and find him immensely inspiring on a personal and a political level. I’m not alone – if he’s on the ballot, he’ll be re-elected…
Have you seen this, along similar lines, from Caroline Lucas Richard? http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/caroline-lucas/eu-referendum-caroline-lucas_b_10650580.html
Thanks for all your work.
I have
I know Caroline, we have co-authored
I am not surprised our thinking overlaps
I did not agree with having the referendum, I voted Left Exit early and then felt wobbly about it and got a big shock on Friday morning. I have since had a lot flack from my LP friends, particularly my CLP where I was the only officer to vote that way. But now I’ve reverted to my original position, that the EU would impose unwelcome constraints on a socialist government and it’s better for the decision to be taken under a tory government who will be held responsible for the initial economic upheaval leaving will cause. So I do not want a second referendum.
It may be worth including Left Unity, too: http://leftunity.org
They are not big, but their thinking is sharp and focused and real. I joined Labour when Jeremy Corbyn was elected, but am beginning to realise he can’t ever be PM – the media won’t allow it, the greater mass of people who we’d need to vote Left won’t see him as a strong curator in a world where the sense of the UK as a bullied loner is going to be massive.
I’m finding myself increasingly siding with Jeanette Winterson that we need a reconfiguring of the left and a new party designed and built for the 21st century. My experience of the local CLP has been of sclerosis and a mess of procedure that takes herculean efforts to overturn.
mind you, I have hopes that the Tory party might fracture too.
We’d end up with:
UKIP on the far right appealing to xenophobes of all classes (who also tend to be homophobic, misogynist and climate change deniers)
a hard right Tory party still in hock to the corporate lobbyists – in effect, the political wing of Goldman Sachs.
A soft right combination of leftish Tories and rightish Labour – who will appeal to the neoliberal who think it’s possible to follow the free market and still have socially liberal principles. I guess they also join with the Lib Dems.
a new left which embraces Left Unity, The Women’s Equality Party, The Greens and the left of Labour plus the left-leaning national parties of Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland. (Heaven knows what happens to the DUP)
We’d need: PR, compulsory voting (with an option of ‘none of the above’ which, if it polls a majority triggers a re-run of the poll in which none of the discarded candidates can stand), and – crucially – the eradication of corporate lobbying.
A think a lot of people are thinking like you Manda
I’d broadly agree but a couple of points:
– I’m not sure that the SNPs policies as seen in practice would fit with your definition of new left. Certainly not in Salmond’s time
– There is a clear difference between the neoliberal, totally free markets, tax-avoiding, small state, financialised capitalism which most of the current Tory party subscribes to; and then a properly regulated, de-financialised, tax paying capitalism, both regulated and supported by a healthy state (Im thinking Mazzucato). Roughly speaking, the difference between a US/UK model and a Scandinavian model. Note that Trump thinks the Scandinavians are a bunch of raving socialists…
My sense is that second area is more likely to be the space occupied by the LibDems, those in the Labour party who have learnt the lessons of the Blair years (of over enthusiasm for finance, PFI and the rest), and possibly even some Tories who do not subscribe to their hard right colleagues’ views.
I appreciate that for some, all capitalism is the same and is conflated with neo-liberalism – their aim is to get rid of capitalism altogether. Their challenge is to come up with a credible alternative economic and social model. Those who remember the ‘democratic socialist’ states of Eastern Europe, especially those who lived in them and were then helped massively by the EU to repair the damage done, will take a lot of convincing.
If we are really going to think out of the box, then how about getting rid of those old, one dimensional, Left-Right labels as the only framework for thinking about politics. Its so constraining…
OK – I come to this as a complete outsider so…
yes, let’s ditch left/right
I read NEF, I read The Joy of Tax and it seems to me that the entire way we use/think about money is both outdated and designed to enrich the already rich at the expense of the poor and the planet. It’s a funnel for dragging resource upwards and we live in a world of finite resource.
That’s my starting point. My end point would be a sustainable, equitable system that gives people reasonable personal freedoms without moving beyond a one-planet model of consumption and while taking our CO2 output as close to zero as possible and with luck into negative numbers. None of this is impossible (I’m reading Andrew Simms just now) but would require considerable political will – and a politician/political party with both the credibility and the electoral power to make it happen.
I have no idea where that fits in terms of left and right, but I’m not seeing any awareness of it in the anti-Corbyn wing of the Labour party and flickers of it in John McDonnell.
There is little awareness of any of this in Labour, to be candid
Then do we need a new party – swiftly?
We need a party that will stand up for the multiculturalists, the ones who want equity and sustainability and I am watching the idiocy at the head of labour with a sinking heart.
Shock Doctrine works both ways – IF the left can seize this moment, we have a chance. Currently it seems to be being wilfully squandered…
/sigh
More thinking on this on its way maybe today
A question one might ask is under what kind of leadership would the kind of coalition bring talked about be most likely to happen? I don’t see that the current Labour leadership is able to reach out beyond its own ideologically defined group, and is still engaged in arguments reminiscent of the SWP vs the WRP in the 70s (see also JPLF vs PFLP…). That period let in Thatcher and the destruction that she wrought.
The Tory government that has just been let in is way beyond Thatcher and could do permanent damage. I’m hearing suggestions that the result will be some kind of revolution against them, leading to a left wing government. A look around the world will tell you that revolutions tend to be profoundly destructive, and they hurt the most of the poorest and weakest in society. Having studied and worked in international development, I could never support that approach.
This mornings news sees 2 of the strongest members of the shadow cabinet lost with more to come. Ive seen Benn in action a number of times and have been hugely impressed. Heidi Alexander has argued forcibly for the NHS in ways that Corbyn has not. I’m sure he is a very decent man and engaging at a personal level – I just don’t see him as leadership material or coming up with a convincing, well articulated alternative narrative.
Benn and Alexander both voted for the bombing of Syria – which if they want any support from the mass of Labour membership, was the kiss of death.
Heidi Alexander also, as far as I can see, supports the free market approach to the NHS.
It seems to me that the problem with those in the higher echelons of the Labour Party – like those in the old Lib Dems so excoriated in Donnachadh McCarthy’s book, ‘The Prostitute State’ is that they’ve been bought by corporate lobbyists.
We need someone fresh, new, independent – and with a strong voice. Jo Cox would have been good – but we only know that because of the publicity after her death. I have hopes that there is someone else of her era and her capabilities – but in truth, I think Labour is finished and that might not be a bad thing.
We need a party that can speak to the under 40s, that supports multiculturalism, the kind of economics that Richard puts forward with such clarity, sustainable energy… all those things. We can’t do it when half of the party still believes that austerity was ‘necessary’.
This is a rather better explanation of why Benn and Alexander are so toxic to the membership:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/still-iraq-war-stupid/
Maybe
I am no sure
I know many on the Left will hate the Lib Dems for going into coalition with the Tory’s in 2010 and giving them legitimacy. In comparison with the current Tory majority government, it worked very well. I thought I could not possibly detest a government more than the Thatcher one but I was proved wrong; the current Tory shower is sickening.
I voted Lib Dem tactically at the general election. I live in a constituency (Hexham) which has been Tory (or Unionist) since 1918 and did so as the only possible way of keeping the Tory out. Waste of time as usual as without a PR system I am effectively disenfranchised.
Richard I’m wondering if there is a reason why you left the Lib Dems out of your list of parties that might be needed to form a grand coalition?
Interesting article in yesterdays FT by Clegg on the referendum. Sorry for double-posting a link
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6044d4e8-3a03-11e6-a780-b48ed7b6126f.html#axzz4CfbdxRaQ
It was just oversight
Although I think theirn position so blindly pro-EU they may also not be able to see the room for any compromise
Before assuming that this is all about rich vs poor, old vs young, South vs North and so on, worth reading this piece from the Fabian website, by a psychologist. http://www.fabians.org.uk/brexit-voters-not-the-left-behind/
This suggests that its much more about core, underlying values, so those with very socially conservative views correlate strongly with negative attitudes to Europe, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
As someone brought up in Cumberland, strongly pro-Brexit, it makes sense to me. Its still like going back to the 1960s when I go back to see friends there, and yes, that includes some dubious attitudes towards ‘foreigners’. Similarly in Lincolnshire where I have friends. Its partly why I moved to live and work in and around London as soon as I could.
UKIP reflects those extremely conservative values – winning back those voters may take rather more than promising them better housing and health services
PS And my thanks to Katy for pointing me to the Fabian’s piece in the first place