An open letter to the leaders of the Opposition parties:
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party
Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP
Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats
Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru
Caroine Lucas, leader of the Green Party
I was born in 1975, amongst the first of Briton's born into the decision by referendum to remain within the EEC. I have thus always been European, something I grew up proud of, particularly as the grandson of a refugee who came to England after her family fled political persecution from the National Socialists in Germany. As a child I enjoyed trips to France, Spain and Germany, experiencing new cultures and reinforcing my upbringing that we are but one part of a larger whole within Europe. And now, in the wake of Brexit I am seeing this sentiment crumble with a rise of nationalism, xenophobia and racism.
There is little doubt that - as with 1930s Germany - the underlying cause of this is economic; the legacy of thirty years of neoliberal, populist politics on both left and right. A politics that has championed the economics of risk; an economics that has emphasised gain but not prepared for loss. An economy that sees taxation as a bad thing then bemoans that class sizes are too great, there are fewer police on the streets and public transport too expensive.
We have been told that the world is ours if we work hard enough but discovering only now that if you don't - or can't - you are on your own. The cost of living has risen incredibly in the past thirty years and with austerity we are seeing the means of support dwindling, particularly for those in society that are less able to pull themselves out of the circumstances they are born into.
I blame my gran. I am an old-fashioned socialist - I see the needs of the many far outweighing the wants of the few. She ran from the dangers of big promises swept up in a media storm of scapegoating rather than forcing us to collectively look at our own culpability behind the problems we face and strive for something better.
This is all a rather long-winded preamble to a plea that we need change. Brexit - and more recently the election of Donald Trump as President Elect - has shown that conventional politics is broken. I do feel that the vote to leave the EU was as much a vote against Westminster as it was a vote against Brussels. And this sentiment is very unsurprising given the short-termism of parliament, a building who's very architecture emphasises US and THEM, and who's decision making is bound up in 4 (now 5) year cycles. When such overwhelming decisions as austerity are implemented when the ruling party has the backing of only 25% of the British electorate. When a decision as monumental as leaving the European Union is backed by less than 35% of those eligible to vote. Reform is needed, both in the political process and in the way we choose the people who are involved in it.
As leader of one of the main opposing parties to our current government I am writing to implore you to consider putting aside your political differences with the other opposing parties and come together as an alliance against austerity and centre-right political rule. What is the old saying? My enemies enemy is my friend?
Change is needed from the bottom to the top in how Britain is run but it must start with a new form of governance, one that is not bound to personalities or political alliances but driven by a collective aspiration: to champion the needs of the few, to drive forward economic and political reform, to accept that we are all smaller parts of a bigger picture.
It won't be popular (particularly with those who have much to lose by the status quo) but it is the only way I can see a future for the Britain I grew up in and call home.
I am but one voice but for the sake of my children (and their children) I hope it is one that echoes with yourselves.
Best wishes,
Cole Henley
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@cole007
07941248326
15 November 2016