Parties we don’t want to vote for. A State that no longer fits us. What do we do now?

(The political musings of an armchair idealist in the Midlands)

Question: Are some issues just too complex and important to be decided directly by the people?

We need to reflect on this question in light of last week’s EU referendum. It’s something I have very mixed feelings about. While I’m hugely excited by the positive potential of direct ‘e’-democracy I have to admit that the debate over the past few weeks (ugly, simplistic, polarising — like a Simon Cowell TV show) and now the uproar and confusion following the result has made me reconsider. Maybe representative, parliamentary democracy is a smarter way to steer the ship of state.

And yet, I find myself asking myself another, even bigger question now: Are our politics just too important to be left in the hands of the current mainstream UK parties?

The increasingly ragged state of these parties, coupled with the horrible constitutional mess of post-referendum Britain, suggests to me that the time has come for us to let go of the political past, and allow something new be born.

Look at where we are today:

On the mainstream Right, the Tories are now deeply divided, and stuck with a political brand that seems to have gone irreversibly sour. This referendum — designed to resolve their internal Europe argument for good — has instead only split them further. Their attempts to ‘de-toxify’ their brand have foundered since they got into power. And their articles of faith: free-marketism, austerity economics and the steady erosion of the notion of a caring welfare state, seem to be out of touch with a country that now deeply questions the benefits of globalisation. Yes, there’s an enduring appetite for Toryism in the affluent suburbs and the Shires, but it seems unlikely they can ever be a dominant and landslide-winning electoral force again. Despite their weakened state, they had enough clout to win a slim, grudging majority in the 2015 election, and were able to use that as a base to (inadvertently) cause havoc with the EU referendum. But their long-term future looks deeply challenged.

On the mainstream Left, the Labour party also seems hopelessly split, perhaps even more profoundly than the Tories. As a broad-church coalition of urban intellectuals, public-sector professionals, trade union radicals and (what’s left of) the working class, Labour has recently been perfecting the art of pleasing none of its members, none of the time. Corbyn won a huge mandate from the party membership, but this doesn’t mask the fact that when Labour speaks to the rest of Britain, it doesn’t really seem to know what it’s for, or how to say it. Perhaps the clue is in the anachronistic name. ‘Labour’ refers to a class struggle and an economic analysis that is very much of the 20th century. What is ‘Labour’ about Blair, Brown, Milliband, Corbyn? What was their class struggle exactly? Yes, when it’s the only viable alternative to Toryism, Labour can still pack a punch (for example Sadiq Khan becoming London’s Mayor), but as a vibrant, viable, unified electoral force, Labour also seems finished, more absorbed in trying to bridge its widening internal rifts than in actually taking power again.

And the Middle? — well, the sudden and calamitous demise of the Lib Dems in 2015 showed the dangers of coalition politics in a country whose electorate is unused to such compromises. And, barring an incredible comeback, my guess is they are out of the picture for the foreseeable future, possibly forever.

So we seem to be left in a kind of zombie deadlock. Stuck with mainstream parties that no one really wants to vote for, too weak to win outright, but too strong to be felled by a knockout punch from the other side.

You could argue this is a healthy dynamic, enabling a sort of left-right pendulum swing equilibrium that ultimately steers us on a fairly steady course down the middle. And maybe that was the case for the past 60 or 70 years. But not any more. On the evidence of the past few years, and especially the messy farce following the EU referendum, the mainstream parties seem more occupied by their internal strife than they are by their primary purpose — which is to listen, to govern and to lead responsibly. And I don’t see it getting any better.

The net result is that this ‘zombie deadlock’ only gets broken by non-mainstream parties. Yes — it’s the SNP and UKIP who now set the political weather, and now effectively control all of our politics.

But what’s wrong with being non-mainstream you say. Maybe that’s what we need right now?

Well there’s nothing wrong with that, nothing at all… unless you hope to effectively govern a group of islands of some 64 million people, collectively comprising the world’s 5th or 6th biggest GDP bloc, and who are (despite the current insanity) a bastion of freedom, diversity, tolerance and common-sense in a world that desperately needs those qualities to be promoted. If that’s your goal (and it surely needs to be someone’s goal) then I’m afraid you need to be in a broad movement that can travel within the mainstream, not a niche player that lives in the margins.

These islands contain a varied and diverse collection of people, but they’re a people who are collectively fairly moderate in their outlook and small-c conservative in their attitude to change. Orwell’s 75-year old essay about us is still remarkably prescient. But in 2016, like everyone else on the planet, the people of these islands are being shaken by the forces of globalisation, financialisation and digitisation — and like everyone on else, they’re worried sick about it. And while the anti-EU vote (by a narrow 52%) may have been an exercise in venting a deep sense of frustration, I believe the people of the British Isles naturally gravitate to a common-sense position in the centre, and towards parties that genuinely listen to their moderate concerns, and govern pragmatically on that basis. This is what they want, but they just aren’t getting it from the incumbents these days.

It might stick in your throat, but you have to congratulate UKIP and the SNP for so successfully delivering against their stated aims. But UKIP and SNP are not the solution to the wider question, because these are parties defined by a single issue, or by a narrow base of issues. They don’t offer a coherent and comprehensive plan for the whole of the British Isles. In the case of UKIP — job done. In the case of the SNP — well, they’re doing so well that some in England and Wales might wish that Nicola Sturgeon would bring her progressive, centrist party south of the border… but I guess we shouldn’t hold our breath for that one (unless I’ve misunderstood something about the phrase ‘Scottish Nationalism’.)

So what do we do?

To be honest, I think we’re in a horrible mess, but this weekend I’ve been thinking and dreaming about how we might constitute a new mainstream politics.

Caveat #1: I’m no firebrand. As I get older, I seem to get more resistant to radical change, and so I dearly wish that one of the mainstream parties could get over itself and shape up to be the party that we want to vote for. I would genuinely prefer this. But I don’t see it happening. And my diagnosis as to why is: it’s because Tories, Labour, Lib Dems, even SNP (mainly because of their nationalist-fixation), these days all lack a common thread or set of ideas for the wider mainstream to coalesce around. These old parties are too riven by their historic compromises, their articles of faith and their squabbles over ‘true’ purpose, to be the effective broad-church ‘coalition of the many’ that we need to carry us forward.

But: I believe it IS possible to build a common set of ideas, beliefs and goals for the majority to get behind. And from this, it’s possible to imagine a new, centrist, futurist party being born, one that could carry the wishes of the many, and get us out of our current and increasingly wretched mess.

Caveat #2: I’m no expert. I’ve never worked in politics, i just watch the news, read the papers, and talk to people. I’m an IT consultant, so don’t shoot me down if my ideas sound naive.

But for what it’s worth, if I were building a new mainstream party tomorrow, here’s my first attempt at a list of aims and founding principles:

1. All men and women are born equal. Equality is the key to a fair and just society, and so we will actively shape our society to equalise the life-chances of all young people.

2. We have more in common than that which divides us. Our diversity is our strength, and our tolerance marks our love and respect for humanity. If what you do and say is within the law, then we will accept and protect your rights to do it and say it.

3. Though we live in an increasingly borderless world, our borders give us shape. They provide us with the space in which to nurture the values and society we believe in, and a space that we are proud to call our home. As with any householder, we are honoured to receive guests within our borders, but when the circumstances require, we will control those borders.

4. We love Britain, and we support staying together as an Island confederation. The people of these islands have hundreds of years of common history and culture, and they have shared the spoils — and shames — of historic triumphs and misdeeds. We are family, for good and bad. Maintaining those bonds makes us stronger and wiser, and though our state needs to be reconstituted, we do not believe it should be dissolved.

5. A globalised world increasingly requires localised responses. We will devolve power to the nations and regions of the British Isles. That means National Parliaments for all, Regional Assemblies, Civic Mayors. But it also means playing an active part in regional and global associations, like the EU and UN.

6. Economic globalisation must be embraced, but thoughtfully. We are part of a global market of goods, services, people and ideas. We should participate on our strengths, and build a balanced economy, but we should not try to participate in every area. We must also be watchful, and actively manage those areas where exposure to the global economy is damaging to our social fabric and undermines our values.

7. We embrace the fact that the world is changing profoundly and that future will not look much like the past. Hence we are willing to engage with difficult topics in a truly open and un-constrained way. Topics like climate change, post-industrialisation, religious fanaticism, the role of banking and finance in society… and all of the other unexpected challenges of modernity, we will consider openly, objectively and without historic bias.

8. Our core belief is that the ultimate goal of civilised society is to make a better life for the many, not just for the few. This is our ultimate aim, judge us democratically by our success on delivering this.

This new party would NOT be a party specific to the left or the right, to the rich or the poor, to trade unions or big business. This party would NOT believe that yesterday was somehow better and that tomorrow will be somehow worse. This party would NOT be constrained by its history, compromised by its old alliances, or boxed into positions that it no longer believes in.

It would be a party for ALL of us and all of our children, concerned first and foremost with that which lies in front of us, and engaged in making it better. It would be a party for well-informed, compassionate, optimistic people from all walks of life — no matter what their previous allegiances. It would be a party for people who believe that humanity (despite its maddening tendency to cock things up) can achieve incredible, staggering, wonderful things — by working TOGETHER.

It’s not a ‘third’ way, it’s a new way, and I think for the UK today — it’s the only way.

Now, where can I find this party? And if it doesn’t exist yet, does anyone have a clue how we can set it up?