The Britain Project: A new politics
We are in a time of huge political realignment in the UK. The establishment of The Britain Project is our response to this.
The realignment sees the dismantling of the old political tribes of left and right, red and blue walls are apparently being taken apart, rendering the old political identities increasingly obsolete. With this, transactional but yet more emotive voting has risen to the fore, seemingly based on a value call rather than the ideologies of the old order, which no longer appear to have the answers.
There are many causes of this realignment – we can reach back to the financial crash of 2007, or further to the advent of the tech revolution. We can cite Brexit – although that was less a cause than a catalyst and a call to choose sides. We can look at the pandemic and can try and predict what next. The realignment is not over. But what is clear is that politics has been playing catch-up with these seismic changes. It hasn’t led the way as it once did but has been running harum-scarum to find its audience, often only to find they have gone to play elsewhere or aren’t interested in playing at all. The vision seems to be missing. What are the solutions to the challenges our society faces 20 years into a new millennium and who is leading us to meet these challenges?
Some forces have been nimbler than others in offering an answer of sorts. The liberal side of the argument has been astonishingly slow. It’s almost as if they have been taken by surprise (they were), they didn’t understand the forces mobilising against them (they still don’t), they didn’t have answers for the most fundamental questions of our day (they are largely silent). This holds true even for the most ‘liberal questions: who is society for and who benefits? How do we ensure the mix of individual rights and responsibilities? Where and why should we place trust in our political system? How do we protect the health of our people and how do we protect our physical world? How do we remain joined up and internationalist, as communities who recoil from this brave new world turn inwards?
At the Britain Project we believe that while ideologies are being challenged, the most fundamental challenges we face deserve a liberal response and in fact the only sustainable answers to the issues of our time are liberal ones. We believe that empty populist slogans will only paste over the cracks and that fundamental change is needed. We believe that sustainable solutions must be achieved by a unifying call to arms, enlisting all our talents, and that the current culture wars will only result in division. We believe in a moderate, less macho shouty politics. We want substance behind the slogans. We still believe that leadership should have integrity, moral purpose and lead by example. We should be able to trust our leaders. We believe in the politics of hope rather than fear. We believe in the independence of our established organisations, in the rule of law, and that the fundamentals of our democracy are worth protecting. We believe there is a deep culture of tolerance and respect in the UK and that the UK is, by history and definition, outward looking and open to the world, playing a role bigger together than the sum of its parts.
For whatever reason, and there are many, the liberal or progressive side have done a bad job of presenting a broad liberal vision to the British electorate. It is our aim at The British Project to develop a liberal narrative that resonates with the people of this country. That narrative should concern itself with the issues that keep us awake or safely asleep at night: our health, the education of our children, our safety, our jobs and our income. The answers to all of these are rooted in the solutions to the biggest global challenges of our time – our response to the environmental crisis, economic equality, pursuit of democracy and civil liberties, the balance of world order, and harnessing the digital revolution for the common good. We believe in listening harder, meeting the electorate where they are, and pushing our case passionately and radically with emotional intelligence and compassion.
Ours is a home for those for whom liberal values resonate, of any or no party. We are non-partisan but no less political. We believe that together we are better than the sum of liberal parts. We want to recreate liberalism for this century, for our country. We urge you to join us, to share your ideas, and to help direct the conversation.
