Not voting Labour, for many people, is achingly hard. There is an inbuilt loyalty to the party that won so many victories for workers and the vulnerable. It has been the vehicle of serious progress. The bastion of hope for the whole loosely defined coalition on the left side British politics since before WW2. In my local Green party it doesn’t take long to meet folks from families with approaching a century of Labour politics in their blood. Breaking from this, is sad, an indictment on the modern Labour Party and as some are coming to realise a vital step if the progressive cause is to advance in Britain in both the short and long term.
The symptoms of political decay in western democracies are stark. A sense of betrayal or apathy towards mainstream politics from large portions of their electorates and a sense that genuine reform to the way our countries are run isn’t close. And yet electorates return constant change messages to their politicians. What connects Brexit, Trump, Macron, Podemos, Syrzia, LePen and the Five Star Movement? They are change candidates, actions and parties from outside political establishments that have frustrated their nations into disgust. No mistake can be made, despite the principles behind Corbyn’s movement, the Labour Party is a body thoroughly captured by an orthodoxy that has brought enormous geographic and economic inequality to the UK. It has proven utterly ill-equipped to even speak to the nation about anything but a mild improvement to what’s already in place. Don’t forget, despite the protests of liberal outlets such as the Guardian and the centrist Labour politicians, this is the party that failed to topple the hideously unpopular Cameron government when given the chance to run against unnecessary austerity and a Liberal Democrat party being abandoned across the board. If they can’t succeed in those circumstances, someone else has to.
The SNP has proven that it can be done in Britain. Without Scottish Independence as a rallying cry however, without this unifying force, the threat of First Past The Post wasting their votes must hover permanently in the British electorate’s minds. The only choice is to be bold. There can be no half promises of a mildly improved life vaguely spelt out. From experience, talking to progressives who haven’t voted Green before, they remain surprised by the depth of Green Party policy. The Green Party can afford and should be absolutely stark about the depth of change that would occur under Green leadership, especially in a political landscape defined by an electorate furious with the status quo. Laying out how we would change the countrys’ politics, institutions and economics is how you channel the anger that resulted in Brexit into constructive voting, rather than forcing parts of the electorate to sacrifice our EU membership just to be heard.
The Green Party is the only political party in England and Wales seeking to build for the future reality is sending us. Within 10 years a serious number of cars on the road will be self-driving, when there are no driving jobs in cars, trains, lorries, busses and when this is just the tip of the iceberg, any politician who believes we can go on as we are is dangerously ignorant. Hence, Universal Basic Income. As well as reducing the need for the punishingly complex and difficult benefits system we currently have it will create the space needed both for individuals to create the jobs of the future and distribute wealth fairly in a world with a great deal less work available. In such a world our current tax system is entirely untenable, the unhealthy concentration of wealth to exceptionally few individuals endangers the stability of our society and reduces the productivity of the nation as a whole. As money increasingly exists digitally, the ability to tax proportionate to wealth, eliminating flat taxes wherever possible grows and the Green Party will pursue every opportunity possible to tax fairly.
Policies such as these are what we must bring to Labour voters struggling with leaving the party behind at the ballot box. Frequently when presented with the Green Party’s policies lifelong members, such as my mother, turn to the Green’s with relief. For a chance to vote for a party that has always been firmly remain, that wants to tax fairly and isn’t afraid to say it, that is serious about altering the way our economy works. A party that will put the environment first as the environment and Climate Change increasingly become the dominant issue of politics. It took me a while before I realised it but the only way to push the progressive cause in this country is to move beyond the petty tribalism that consumes Labour and the old left. By presenting to Labour’s voters a party they can believe in without the hang ups and cracked confidence that Labour now brings, not only can we win votes, we can help move the whole progressive movement forward.
– Zachary Gomperts-Mitchelson