Stepping Back from Party Political Activism

Two weeks ago, on a train journey back from Bournemouth, I spoke with a fellow Liberal Democrat PhD student. He is a student in Vienna and was considering stepping back from party politics. It is safe to say that both PhDs and party politics take up considerable time.

Last year, I had hoped informally to step back from party politics when I started my PhD. Over the previous 12 months, I have not been successful at this. Amongst other things, I attended several conferences, stood as a paper candidate in the local elections and helped to edit two Lib Dem related books (including writing a chapter in one of them).

This week, I am starting my second year as a Politics PhD student at Lancaster University. So far everything is going well, I successfully passed my first-year panel and was upgraded at the first attempt, a few months ago. My workload is likely to increase this year especially as I am starting teaching first year Undergraduate Politics seminar classes, which is an exciting opportunity to somebody who aims for a career in academic teaching.

This naturally means there will be extreme limitations on my time. Earlier this month I stepped back from my position on the Social Liberal Forum Executive, as their Vice-Chair North, the Chair of their Editing and Publishing Board and the Social Media Manager. However, I have now decided that I will stand down from the Social Liberal Forum Council next Summer when the Council is once again up for election.

In addition, I will be stepping back from using Twitter. My days as a “keyboard warrior” are gradually coming to an end. Twitter currently tends to reflect the echo chamber of our contemporary political crisis. This in turn reinforces tribal party positions and facilitates aggressive partisan trolling. Such an environment is not healthy for my personal anxiety levels, especially as someone who has a pluralistic approach to politics. So, I will be limiting my presence on Twitter to my new Twitter account devoted to my academic work, teaching and research.

However, I have also now decided that it is right for me to take a step back from most aspects of Liberal Democrat party politics. This is especially the case given the likelihood of a general election in the next couple of months. In the previous two general elections I was the election agent for the Liberal Democrats in Blackpool South; however, my participation will be limited at best to an odd afternoon of leaflet delivering for the party at the next election.

I am not leaving the party, of course, but my involvement in party related activities will be very limited for the next 2-3 years while I complete my PhD. It is also likely that my attendance at party conferences will be limited over the next couple of years. I wish the best of luck to all those who remain active in the Liberal Democrats during this time, I am extremely hopeful that several of you will be elected MPs in the near future. You will undoubtedly serve your constituents, your party and your country exceptionally well.

The party currently has the ideal policy in relation to Brexit; Revoking Article 50 following the election of a Liberal Democrat majority government, or in the event of a hung parliament, negotiating for a People’s Vote referendum where the party would campaign to Remain in the EU. I would encourage the party to make the social justice case for the EU not forgetting the vital protections for workers and the poorest regions of the Union, as well as arguing that the EU is the most successful peace process in world history. 

The party must be a vehicle for social liberalism and social democracy and I hope the party’s ambitious new welfare policies are not side-lined during the upcoming general election campaign. Social justice needs to be at the forefront of any future Liberal Democrat campaign, alongside our commitment to “Stop Brexit”. I encourage the party to reconnect with its radical political heritage, build on the big ideas of the past and develop new and imaginative narratives for the present.

As a lifelong social liberal, social justice and its capacity to advance individual freedom has been consistently my driving passion in politics and will continue to be so. It was after all the ideals of that great social liberal, Charles Kennedy which originally drew me into the Liberal Democrats in the first place. I would plea with the party to reach out more to working class communities and to recognise that the Remain cause is not just limited to middle class areas. In my native Blackpool for example, despite the high Leave vote in the EU Referendum, almost 22,000 people voted Remain. It is votes like these which could prove pivotal in any future People’s Vote referendum.

I hope my close Liberal Democrat friends will forgive me if I appear a little distant over the next couple of years. I will of course remain easily contactable on E-mail, Facebook and Twitter. I may be taking a break from party political activism, but my involvement in the study of politics as a social science is only going to increase. This is an exciting moment in the history of the Liberal Democrats. I will continue to be with you in spirit and wish you all the luck, good fortune and success over the next 2-3 years.

Why I want to stand for the Social Liberal Forum Council

           There are many challenges that face Britain today. Social and economic inequalities are still rife in society from people having to use food banks, to the issue of low wages and the problems caused by welfare reforms. Britain needs to rediscover its spirit of social justice, and its concern for the most disadvantaged members of society. When I first got interested in politics it was over the issues of civil liberties and my opposition to the War in Iraq. There was only ever one party that spoke to me on these issues and that truly inspired me, the Liberal Democrats. But that's not all, in the mid-2000s, the Lib Dems were the only main party willing to stand up for social justice in the face of the social hardships ignored by New Labour and caused by the Conservatives that came before them.

            Today, four years into the Coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, that spirit of social justice may seem like a world away. The Coalition has adopted some progressive policies such as raising the income tax threshold, the pupil premium and most recently free school dinners for the most disadvantaged pupils. Although there have also been some regressive policies such as the NHS reforms, welfare reforms such as the “bedroom tax” and an economic strategy that has placed too much of the burden of austerity on the poorest.

 

            What is often missed by media commentators is the excellent work done by members of the Social Liberal Forum in standing up for the traditional social liberal values that the Lib Dems have had for over a century. The SLF has been vital in calling for reforms to the government's economic policy to ensure that it focuses more on a house building stimulus and taxing the wealthy and less on slash and burn cuts to public services. Furthermore, they have consistently backed Lib Dem motions opposing the NHS reforms, opposing food poverty, backing a living wage, opposing the bedroom tax and being critical of the approach to free schools. If the spirit of social justice is to be found anywhere within the Liberal Democrats; it is to be found within the Social Liberal Forum.

            The Social Liberal Forum is on the verge of having elections to its ruling council and I am very eager to run for a position on that council. I have always been somebody who has proudly stood on the left of politics and I firmly believe that the Liberal Democrats are at heart a centre-left party. The SLF represent the historic centre-left traditions of the Lib Dems. As someone who has always been committed to social justice; I am very proud to be a member of the SLF. It is vital that we stand up for the poorest and most disadvantaged people in our country, many of whom lack a voice and are alienated by political parties who turn a blind eye to poverty and inequality.

Some might say that there's no place for an advocate of social justice in the Liberal Democrats today. However, I understand my Liberal history; the Liberal history of social liberalism that goes back to 1906. In 1942, the social security report by the Liberal Party social reformer, William Beveridge ensured that there was a national minimum, beneath which no one would be allowed to fall. The defining feature of social liberalism is the belief that social justice can enable the individual to reach their full potential. In this regard, Beveridge’s welfare state has done more to free people than any other institution since the establishment of democratic governments. The Beveridge report has been fundamental in freeing people from poverty, unemployment, ill-health and a lack of education. I am very proud of the history of great social liberals such as William Beveridge, John Maynard Keynes and David Lloyd George as well as the great Lib Dem titans of British politics such as Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams and Charles Kennedy. This history proves that the Liberal Democrats are a centre-left party of social justice and social liberalism. And if I get elected I would hope to continue that tradition.

There are many problems facing Britain today and social liberalism has many of the answers to them. Social liberalism rejects the false choice of choosing between promoting liberty or tackling inequality; simply put you cannot achieve one without the other. A more just society is a more free society. To be free from poverty is just as important as being free from the authoritarianism of the state. You cannot truly enjoy freedom if your capacity to achieve and develop is held back by poverty and inequality.

Hence, the powers of the state must be kept in check; but also there must be a progressive alternative to the free market consensus of the last thirty-five years. Social liberals must promote a living wage, land taxation, British federalism, community politics and workplace democracy especially through cooperatives. Above all, social liberals must aim to give a voice to the poor and the disadvantage and ensure that they have a stake in British society again. A stake that free market economics has denied them.

If I get elected to the Social Liberal Forum Council, I will stand up for social freedoms, social justice, the rights of the poor and the rights of people with disabilities (of which I am one). I aim to represent the Liberal Democrats’ historic centre-left principles of social liberalism. Overall, I hope that the Liberal Democrats can be a party that can once again stand up to injustice. This can only be done through the great work of the Social Liberal Forum; great work to which I hope to contribute. I hope that