I recently watched a short video with Jameela Jamil where she was talking about the differences between the Left and the Right, the attraction and sense of belonging some get from the Right, and what we can do about it. She made the point that the Left has a tendency to fight amongst ourselves. We set high standards and high behavioural expectations and we refuse to fully accept anyone who doesn’t meet these. The Right will welcome anyone and are better able to smooth over differences in policy positions. It made me think about one of my friends who is a vegan. I admire their commitment, but veganism isn’t for me. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about the climate at all. I am doing what I can where I can. If my friend set a high bar for belonging to their circle, I would be excluded because I’m not a paid up, fully committed 100% vegan.
Often on the Left we are unwilling to accept those whose views don’t fully align with ours. This splits us into smaller and smaller groupings, where working together for a cause – independence, social justice, equality – becomes more difficult. If we want to attract people in the way the Right are doing, we need to meet people where they are. We need to accept that just because someone goes to Starbucks or McDonalds doesn’t mean they support genocide in Gaza. We can educate without excluding. We can allow those who want to fight for a fairer society where the rich are taxed appropriately and everyone can afford the costs of living, to join our cause.
The rise of the Far Right makes this proposition even more timely. Folk are scunnered. Even those on middle incomes are struggling more than ever. People on minimum wage or universal credit are feeling the pinch worst of all. I can understand the desire for an easy solution. Maybe if we just kick out all immigrants the economy will work in our favour?
Clearly not. Inequality is structural not caused by folk like you or me but who happen to have been born in another country. When the Left don’t have an easy, magic solution, how then do we attract folk? We need to offer hope. We need to talk about Kenmure Street and the Poll Tax marches. Our voices can make a difference, but we won’t be loud enough if we can’t be inclusive.
Kirsty Blackman is MP for Aberdeen North and serves as the Chief Whip.
Image credit: Farah Jack Mustaklem, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
