On The Importance of Voting

This article was originally published in The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tom-bailey2/eu-referendum-voting_b_10569342.html?) just before the EU Referendum. And yet, I thought it relevant enough to repost now, since it is not only about voting in referenda, but about voting in general.

This Thursday, on the 23^rd of June, millions of people will be going to polling stations throughout the UK in order to cast their vote. The people of the UK will be deciding whether we should remain or leave the European Union, a decision that will have a drastic influence over the future of our country. It will affect every one of our lives, and it will determine the role the United Kingdom plays in the world for decades to come.

The chance to vote is not something we should take lightly, not only because of the power each of us holds in our own hands, but also because the right to vote is something we should all treasure. When we cast our votes on Thursday, we should remember that in 1780, only 3% of the population of England and Wales could vote. That 3% was, of course, made up of wealthy white males who thought they and they alone should decide the future of their country.

We should also remember that there are still many people throughout the world who are denied the right to vote or whose votes simply don’t count. Even though universal suffrage is a key element of our democracy, we are still lucky to have it. In countries like North Korea, Zimbabwe, Syria, and China, citizens have little or no say in how their countries are run. To many people throughout the world, the idea that a government would hold a referendum seems an idealistic dream for the distant future. We, in the UK, are living that dream of democracy.

But we shouldn’t just feel fortunate that we have this right to democratically choose our governments. We should also feel grateful. Now, I’m not saying we should be thanking politicians or the establishment or the monarchy for granting us this right to vote. After all, the right of universal suffrage was not given to the citizens of the UK out of good will or kindness from benevolent bureaucrats. It was fought for.

We should feel grateful to all those who struggled and persevered so that we could go to the polling stations on Thursday. We should feel grateful to Thomas Paine, whose book The Rights of Man called for an expansion of suffrage beyond wealthy elites. We should feel grateful to the radical speaker Henry Hunt and the 11 people killed at the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, attacked by local yeomanry for calling for their right to vote. They were martyred for their fellow men and women.

Then there are the Chartists, the 19^th Century radical campaigners for parliamentary reform. Their six-point programme included demands for universal suffrage and voting by secret ballot – both of which we take for granted. All of these revolutionaries gave us what we have today, and we should commemorate their struggle by casting our votes on Thursday.

But these groups were only the beginning of this battle. When we vote, we must also feel indebted to the suffragettes and to Emily Davison, that great feminist figure who fought for her rights as a woman. Indeed, she gave her life for the cause of female suffrage. At the Epsom Derby of 1913, Emily Davison stepped out in front of King George V’s horse in a symbol of protest. Four days later, she died from her injuries.

Alongside Emily in this battle for woman’s right to vote were Mary Wollstonecraft, Emmeline Pankhurst, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and many, many others. They suffered persecution, alienation and abuse so that women could have equal voting rights to men.

And last but not least, we must remember Martin Luther King Junior and all those men and women who took part in the civil rights movement. If they hadn’t marched on Washington in 1963, and if they hadn’t clung so ferociously to their heartfelt dreams, black men and black women might still not be able to vote in the United States. Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated for fighting for his beliefs – he gave his life so that he and his fellow black Americans could have the right we enjoy today.

That, I suppose, demonstrates the importance of voting. Not just because we are voting in an incredibly important referendum, but because we are so lucky that we can vote at all. It hasn’t always been like this. We haven’t always had this great democratic right. So, when we put our slips in the ballot box on Thursday, whether we are men or women, black or white, Christian or Muslim, working-class or bourgeoisie, we should remember those who gave their lives so that every one of us could have this right.

When Thursday arrives, I urge you to go to the ballot box and vote. If you feel alienated and disenfranchised by the current political climate, I don’t blame you. But you still ought to go to the polling station and vote or, at the very least, spoil your ballot – it may seem pointless, but it shows that you care and ensures you won’t be dismissed as entirely apathetic.

Turning out to vote on Thursday is the least we can do for all those campaigners and martyrs who championed the rights we enjoy today. Whatever your stance on the referendum, let your voice be heard.

A Patriotic Vision For The Left

This blog was originally published on The Radical Tea Towel Company's blog page: http://www.radicalteatowel.com/blog/a-patriotic-vision-for-the-left/ 

For a long time now, the words “nationalistic” and “patriotic” have seemed to me to be largely associated with xenophobia, bigotry and prejudice. Political parties like UKIP and the British Nationalist Party have long been claiming that only they are proud of their country and their people.

UKIP’s 2015 General Election manifesto was emblazoned with the slogan “Believe in Britain” as if no other political party did. The English Defence League adopted St George’s flag (ignorant to the fact that St George was Syrian) as if to suggest that they were the true guardians and lovers of our country, and that no other political party could really care for England.

A quick Google search reinforces this unusual association between bigotry and patriotism. The so-called “patriot movement” consists of various conservative movements in the United States that include organised militia members, tax protesters, conspiracy theorists, and radical Christians who believe in an impending apocalypse. ‘Patriotism’ apparently equates with ‘loony’, too.

And just as these illiberal, conservative groups often pose as patriotic, so the left has forever been accused of the opposite: of having a deep loathing for the United Kingdom and wanting to systematically dismantle all of its traditions and institutions. In his novel A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor describes his early perception of left-wing politicians as men and women determined to see the destruction of everything ‘British’, from country-life and religion to cricket and farming.

This view of the left as anti-patriotic was evident in The Daily Mail’s childish and brutal attack on Ralph Miliband, the socialist writer and late father of Ed Miliband. The tabloid absurdly branded Ralph as “The man who hated Britain” for no other reason than his left-wing political stance, despite the fact that he fought for Britain in the Royal Navy. Of course, The Daily Mail consistently publishes utter nonsense, but its influence and power cannot be ignored – these are views held by a large amount of the electorate.

The persistence of this perception is terrifying: if you type “Corbyn hates” into Google, the first two suggested searches are not (as you might expect) “Corbyn hates inequality” or “Corbyn hates injustice”, but instead, Google suggests the two searches “Corbyn hates England” and “Corbyn hates Britain”. Although Google may not be trustworthy when it comes to politics (I wonder why…), it seems that many in England agree with Cameron when he says Corbyn has a “security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology”.

This branding of the left, and the Labour Party in particular, as anti-British or anti-patriotic, is very damaging indeed. Previous polling has shown that nearly 8 out of 10 British people are proud of their nationality, and so any party hoping to win in 2020 must reflect that pride. And I believe that it can be done.

The rise of the SNP in Scotland and the popularity of Plaid Cymru in Wales show that patriotism and socialism can and should be synonymous. Nationalistic politics does not have to mean regressive politics. Loving your country does not necessitate xenophobic values and inward-looking views. Caring about our country does not mean we must abandon our concern for the rest of the world, nor does it mean we should redirect foreign aid to benefit ourselves alone (one of UKIP’s manifesto pledges).

I also believe that patriotism, while it involves pride, does not mean we must agree with everything our country has and will do. Being patriotic does not mean we must celebrate our terrible imperialist past, nor does it mean applauding war and supporting unnecessary violence.

For too long, we’ve allowed the word ‘patriotism’ to be wrongly defined, and we as radicals must reverse that. We should not be afraid to call of waving the English flag and calling ourselves patriots, because patriotism can mean pride in our National Health Service, in our welfare state, and in our democracy. Patriotism can mean the love of our diversity, our tolerance, and our acceptance of other cultures. Patriotism can mean the love of our artistic history and our support of progressive values (notable in our fight against Nazism). It doesn’t have to mean a passion for the monarchy, a love of tradition, or a constant support of war, as many now see it.

Patriotism certainly can be dangerous – there’s no denying it. That’s possibly why Marx opposed it so much (“The working men have no country”), seeing it as divisive, anti-internationalist, and a direct cause of conflict. But, as I have attempted to demonstrate, it doesn’t have to be. If we love our own country, we do not have to hate the countries of others. Love of one thing does not necessitate the hatred of another.

So patriotism isn’t necessarily a bigoted ideology. Indeed, if argued correctly, a left-wing patriotic ideology could unite the British people like no other, ending the politics of fear (exemplified by the scapegoating of the poor and foreigners) and ensuring pride in and passion for our liberal institutions. That is why the Labour party and the left as a whole must embrace the word patriotism, rather than shying away from it – not just to increase their electability, but to bring people together.

Whilst right-wing politicians brand the people of the UK as scroungers and wasters (just this week, Alan Duncan claimed that achievement equals wealth, suggesting that millions of British people are lazy and unsuccessful), and whilst the Tories take benefits from working people and dismantle the NHS, the Left must stand for compassion and love, protecting our people and its institutions – what could possibly be more patriotic? The left are the true patriots, and we must prove it.