You can hear Simon Blackburn speak this Saturday at the Governing for Britain conference
I have rewritten this article having given an interview to the Washington Post. I had originally written about the potentially vast and damaging economic impact of the decision to leave the European Union.
But talking to a journalist from foreign shores, and forced to reflect, in fairly short order as to the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the situation, I have realised that to focus on the economic damage is to miss the point.
The legacy of Britain withdrawing from the EU is likely to be a struggle to redefine what it is to be British, and how the Labour party positions itself in that struggle.
Labour leaders (and I include myself in this critique) have a tendency towards being metropolitan, liberal, university educated types, who have been fortunate enough to travel, meet with, study with and get to know people from a wide variety of backgrounds. As a consequence, we know that not only is diversity nothing to be afraid of, but it is something to be celebrated.
That is great, but it does not necessarily lend itself to a tough conversation on the doorstep with voters who do not share that view of the world.
It is now clear that to varying degrees, a significant proportion of the population have perceptions about immigration and ‘taking back control’ – the two main sentiments expressed on the doorstep.
We need to address those concerns, not pander to them, but address them. If we do not, three things will happen:
First, there will be a breakdown in community cohesion and integration – we are already seeing a rise in hate crimes. Second, we will risk the same treatment as that meted out to the Scottish Labour party – our voters will have found someone else who talks their language in a referendum situation, and will desert us for their new political suitors. Finally, there will be further victims in future –when the British exit fails to deliver £350m a week for the National Health Service, when people from other countries continue to come to the United Kingdom to work, and when being outside of the EU does not deliver utopia – the right wing will need someone else to blame, other people to attack, other people to marginalise and blame for their mismanagement.
If we allow that to happen, we will have failed those who most need our help – again.
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Simon Blackburn is leader of Blackpool council, chief whip of the Local Government Association Labour group, and Chair of the LGA Safer, Stronger Communities Board. He tweets @CllrSBlackburn
Get your ticket to the Governing for Britain conference here
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