23rd June 2016, you probably remember where you were, you probably remember thinking “How did we lose this? How did this happen?”
There were many reasons, but one big one was messaging.
Messaging and, in particular, framing. Framing is how we approach an argument, the context we give to a debate.
You see, that figure we kept on disputing, £350m, only reinforced the Leave campaign’s message. Every time we presented the truth about this false figure we brought the topic of discussion, or the frame, onto the Leave campaign’s message.
Why are we giving money to the EU? Why do we give them control for money? These are the questions which the voters would be thinking about when that figure is debated. We reinforced Leave’s message. This is how framing works.
Framing matters, but we don’t talk about it much as Lib Dems. We are scientific factual people. So we talk about policy, and campaign tools, and how to increase membership; but rarely framing.
This is why I’m creating the “Lib Dem Framing Forum”. This forum is for Lib Dems to discuss, debate and ask about framing messages.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Sammy Going South, Suez and the end of the British Empire
Torchwood, Dr Who and centuries of history at the edge of Gower
Jason Connor 
Phil Wainewright 
peter wrigley 
David Raw 
Graham Jeffs 