Do not support the 48% who voted remain; support the 100% who have the same values as we do.
Liberal – Willing to respect, accept behaviour or opinions different from your own; open to new ideas
Democrat – The belief in freedom and equality between people
Not my words but dictionary definitions of what Liberal Democrats should stand for.
So what does this mean post-Brexit? Let us get rid of the rhetoric and angst among individuals that voted remain or leave. Let us find the good in all individuals whichever way they voted. Those who already agree with our ideals and those who did not want to be ruled by an elite (the perception of being in the EU by most leavers), who want to hold us to account at a national level and more importantly want the government to resolve all the problems we face in housing, the economy, education, health, the environment, defence and security.
We need to retain what we are good at: listening to people at a local level, local representation, fighting local injustice that affect communities and leading with policies that will fix local problems by listening to the people.
More to the point, we need to adapt this approach to our national politics. The UK is on course towards Federalism. Scotland asking for independence, Wales asking for EU funding to be replaced, Cornwall ditto.
We need to start listening to local individuals concerns on national issues; yes, we need to remain internationalist but adapt that to meet the needs of individuals biggest need to feel part of a democracy and feel injustice against them as no one has been listening to them.
Liberalism to me is representing the individual, fighting social inequality and listening to individual concerns. We can do that now by listening to everyone whether they voted remain or Brexit. We will challenge discrimination, we will promote diversity and an open and inclusive society. We must lead in forming policies that work for people and creates democracy – at local level, national level and international level.
Yes, it was disappointing, let us fightback by uniting, stop the social media sniping, stick to those two principles of being Liberal and Democrats.
* Dean Crofts is secretary of North Bedfordshire Liberal Democrats
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15 Comments
Brexiters voted to crash the economy. How are they better than the London rioters?
Well said Dean Crofts.
This is somewhat meaningless. We’re a political party not a cult. Yes we are open and listen to people but we also take positions on issues and then try and win power to implement them.
Unfortunately the UK isn’t on course for federalism – though that would be lovely – it’s actually currently on course to break up. We need to fight many, many fires at once now and we may not be able to be nice to everybody all the time in the process.
Dean, completely agree.
Demeaning those who voted against the EU is palpably daft.
It is still possible that a party that recognises the result of the referendum and seeks to build cross-national and cross-class unity could campaign, as TIm Farron wishes us to, for a democratic and parliamentary mandate for re-entry into the EU.
But we MUST not even implicitly indicate that we consider those who voted Remain to be beneath our contempt, as I do feel that this is in fact the subliminal fear of many such voters – that the ‘elites’ or the ‘middle classes’ secretly despise them and do not care about them or their concerns.
Engaging in the politics of demonisation will just push large chunks of the electorate into the arms of Farage.
I do strongly support the continuance of the EU and British engagement with it as a potenial tool for the furtherance of liberal democracy (in the wider, non-party sense) — but liberal democracy must not become in itself defined by loyalty to the EU, because we risk those who reject the EU rejecting liberal democracy.
Alistair
Brexiters voted to crash the economy. How are they better than the London rioters?
Ludicrous…
Reading statements like that, I’m rapidly and angrily, coming to a very difference solution to this divide. The BBC map gave us Yellow ‘Remainers’,.. and Blue ‘Leavers’. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that we must force the wallets of the affluent Yellows, to be opened much wider,..in order to support the needs of the Blue areas? Some people need a dose of reality. Do you want fairness and democracy, or are pitchforks and burning torches, your preferred method of change?
J Dunn, Brexit has not redistributed any wealth from UK rich to UK poor. It has only destroyed value. I live in a Blue area and there are plenty of problems with social deprivation and substance abuse. They voted Brexit because they think they will get more money for the NHS and stop immigration.
how democratic is it that the Tories can delay electing a PM til autumn and only 0.33 % of electorate have a say?
Agree Dean.
The driving forces behind why people voted the way they did are numerous and complex and cannot be distilled down into 2 or 3 defined categories. The only way to truly understand is listen to individuals talk about their lives, why they have the fears they do, what problems they encounter, and what THEY think would help to progress their lives.
The one thing I’ve learned is that telling someone that their fears are illogical, not real, or stupid is not the way progress. We all have different upbringings, experiences, and living conditions and these influence our values, sense of worth, and confidence. When we feel threatened emotional thinking starts to dominate, and if that fear is mocked, ignored, or dismissed it only leads to even more marked emotional reactions when confronted. So, if those who are supposed to be leading, managing, and controlling your world treat your fears with disdain, then is it surprising that people feel vulnerable and angry?
If someone offers a single solution that will solve all of the problems, one that taps in to the natural instincts of survival, then it’s very easy to see how people can get drawn in. There are those that have come to the leave conclusion through reasoning; as there are those on the remain side of the argument. But equally, on both sides, we have people who reached their decision through of fear of the unknown and change.
I’ve witnessed a huge amount of condescension aimed at both sides without any attempt to listen or understand. Yes, the uncertainty has had a huge short term impact on the economy, but by not understanding how we reached this point, we cannot hope of finding long solutions to local, national, or international problems.
Couldn’t agree more. I was quite upset after the result, but constant campaigning against the decisions is fruitless. We may have another general election before Article 50 is triggered which would be essentially a re-run of the referendum via FPTP, but given the result of the referendum, this would likely be an even clearer result in favour of leaving. I am Scottish (but live in England), and want to stay in the EU, but accept that means I may need to move from England. This decision, however, was made for both right and wrong reasons. There were many reasons why people voted remain as well as leave, and many of them were as thoughtless as some of the worst leave reasons, but that is the nature of democracy.
Cleggs piece in the Standard says that the Tory membership is 0.003% of the electorate but I thought the electorate was approx 45 million and the Tory membership 150,000. Has the Tory membership shrunk or is Nick missing his old friend Danny and his calculator skills?
Look where the Lib Dems are ……8%……. I say we can realistically target 20% of the folks to rebuild. A broad front is pointless IMO , We need liberal people to build a core vote, there is no quick fix. Tim EU stance is a touchstone of modern Liberalism – good call Tim!
I agree Dean. The problem is the vote was too regional to start saying you only stand up for part of the country. We can’t have people saying we are better than others because of how they voted on this because clearly different areas have different issues and we shouldn’t be making moral judgements on many poor people who have voted to leave just because they voted to leave.
Alistair
J Dunn, Brexit has not redistributed any wealth from UK rich to UK poor. It has only destroyed value. I live in a Blue area and there are plenty of problems with social deprivation and substance abuse. They voted Brexit because they think they will get more money for the NHS and stop immigration.
Yes, and it was clear to me from the start that those leading the Brexit campaign and those funding it wanted it for almost the exact opposite of what most of those who voted for it thought it would lead to. Their dishonesty became more and more clear as they started using words that would attract the votes, while knowing they stood for nothing that would solve these people’s problems.
To put it simply, many people in this country are in a state of misery as a result of decades of Thatcherite economics, and voted “Leave” as a protest against what it has done to them. Yet those leading Brexit are the extreme end of the Thatcherite movement.
What we are seeing is that the failure of Thatcherite economics is obvious, and its most extreme types trying to hide that by blaming the EU for its consequences.
I certainly don’t want to attack those who voted “Leave”, because I think I probably would have done so myself if I had little involvement in politics and listened only to the superficial lines being put across. Our attention and anger must be turned onto those who cynically misled those who voted Leave, and not on those who voted because that way because they were **** by them.
I have put **** because I would like to see some discussion on an appropriate word to use. I would use “fooled”, but I appreciate that can sound like an elitist attack implying “you are a fool, and I am better than you because I am not”.
Agreed Matthew. What upsets me particularly is that food and other essentials are likely to be more expensive which really hits the poor hardest. I dont think our media really did a good job of presenting analysis in a way that was accessible. I also find it upsetting that my colleagues are scared of racial attacks andy wife doesnt feel welcome in the country where we have lived more than 10 years. But as I have a job and a degree I must be part of some kind of sneering elite.
Duped or misled are two possible words to use Matthew. Until you explained I thought you were meaning a good old Anglo Saxon word.