By Barnabus Howard Thursday 26 October 2017

The last few years in politics have been incredibly divisive and frankly, in parts abusive. As I walk backward through time I think about the 2017 general election, the 2016 US Presidential election, the EU referendum, the election of the London Mayor, the Labour leadership elections, even back to the 2015 general election. All of them have been horribly fought; a discredit to democracy.

The last election I can remember issues being discussed in an almost adult fashion was the Scottish Independence referendum, and that is saying something. The days of “I agree with Nick” are long gone.

I can think of a few reasons for this. I think the divisive agenda the Tories (and Libs) pursued after the 2010 election created a toxic environment following the global financial crash in 2008; winners and losers, the good and the bad, the exploited and the exploiters.

Combine that with the EU referendum which automatically split the country between “right and wrong”. It’s hard for people to get along and be constructive when the two options are “right and wrong”. Some of my Middle Vision counterparts (and fellow Remainers) have been on a crusade to stop Remainers being quite so sanctimonious and insulting to/about Leavers. Quite rightly they point out that calling people stupid isn’t going to convince them of anything. Equally Leavers could or should be more willing to consider the concerns of Remainers.

Finally, if video killed the radio star then social media certainly killed constructive debate. Whether it is the alt right, sanctimonious Remainers, abusive and unrealistic Leavers, or the swarm of Corbynistas imagining a new socialist utopia where anybody they don’t like ceases to exist. On a dark day it can feel like the 1930s and the age of dictatorship is on its way back. I hear no end of ill defined pejorative ideologies quoted as self-explanatory denunciation; champagne socialist, centrist Dad, or worse still, “neoliberal”!

Dig behind the meaning, and ignore the promise of whichever utopia it is you have in mind and these are quite interesting terms…

Champagne Socialist – meaning somebody espousing leftier views than the speaker whilst enjoying a comfortable lifestyle. An old colleague used to use it for anybody whose political opinions were to the left of Mussolini and I always wanted to shout, “why is it a bad thing that somebody other than the poor takes an interest in social equality”. Maybe we need a few more!

Centrist Dad – what a load of b…. I’m not sure what it could really mean; although the esteemed (or not) Matthew Zarb-Cousin



they are “middle-aged men who cannot come to terms with the world and politics changing” and bemoans their “vague” politics. You can be damned sure I’m not willing to “come to terms” with Trump, Brexit and Corbyn! And as a human being I try not to hold fixed opinions on anything, I try to understand and issue and find a solution that works. That would seem to make me a centrist (although writing for this publication perhaps not a surprise), and a Dad I’m not sure what is wrong with that!

Neo-Liberal – I don’t think any normal people know what this means. Professor Colin Talbot whose Twitter account I enjoy has described it as so broad as to be meaningless. I’d read his blog, but for a shortcut, neoliberal started in the 1930s as a reaction to laissez-faire policies and promoted a market economy with regulation and a strong start; a social market economy. So every time I hear some ultra left or Corbyn supporter banging on about “jobs first” and “growth” I am inclined to chuckle at their neoliberalism. Only through lazy conflation and the Hayek-inspired economic policies of Pinochet did the term become confused. What they mean when they say neoliberal is “capitalist”. Maybe we need a few more proponents of the social market and a few less socialists or deregulation obsessed capitalists.

After all of that; where you may I ask do I sit in all of these? I try to remain flexible and sensible in my views; a believer in the market, a social liberal and a believer in social equality and rules and law.

Depending on who you speak to it appears in equal measure I’m a champagne socialist (and yes I do have a couple of bottles in the fridge), a centrist Dad (to two daughters) and a neoliberal (although apparently nearly 100 years out of date).

Just like anybody else I like to believe I’m right; more champagne socialists, centrist Dads and neoliberals I say! And if we could have some constructive debate on the issues affecting our land then that’d be great too!

By Barnabus Howard

Middle Vision

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