Tom has always inspired me politically. His views on the world
have always intrigued me and I knew when I started this blog that I had to get
him for an interview. Tom is the Youth Officer for Mid Worcestershire
Labour and I decided to quiz him on some of the more pressing issues facing us
in the present day and also some more personal questions about Labour and
getting involved with politics. Interviewing him made me think deeply about
some of the decisions taken by parliament and also what I can do myself to get even
more involved.
Photo Credits: @guysavag_photographic (instagram)
Q: You’ve been politically active for years now, can you
remember how you got involved in politics and have your views changed much over
the years?
A: I’ve always been interested in history, as you have, and
I remember learning all the Kings and Queens of England and I suppose all the
big historical figures have all been influential in the political world. I
became really interested in the English Civil War, and Oliver Cromwell, and
Parliament and the Enlightenment period and I suppose my political interest grew
from my historical interest. I suppose my views have changed a little. In the
2010 election, which was the first election I really got involved in, I was a
Clegg fan! I leafleted my village and I leafleted the North of Evesham for the
Liberal Democrats and that’s when I became a sort of ‘political geek’. Since
then I’ve been a member of the Labour Party for 7 years and I don’t think it’s my
views that have shifted much, it’s more that the party lines have been redrawn
and now, particularly under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party is viewed as mass
movement much differently than before.
Q: We’ll start off talking about Brexit: There’s been a lot
of questions about how the government has handled Brexit since Article 50 was
triggered. How well do you feel the May government has dealt with Brexit and do
you think a 2nd referendum is required?
A: Firstly on the second referendum, I think it’s important
to remember that way before the European Union existed we had parliamentary
sovereignty. Parliament had the final say on any legislation passed, any
political decisions that are made in the UK and that seems to have been
conveniently forgotten during the referendum period and afterwards. If the
government is to accept decisions based on a first referendum then it would be
difficult to oppose a second, but actually I would oppose, not the result of
the first referendum but having it in the first place. It’s rather interesting
that the whole Brexit argument is taking back control for the British
parliament when the Brexit process is probably the biggest event in which
Parliament has been bypassed. We’ve seen that a lot with Theresa May’s
government and I think that links back to how Theresa May has handled Brexit.
The process isn’t easy, it’s not going to be easy for any party, regardless of whether
Jeremy Corbyn is on the other side of the dispatch box it’s not going to be an
easy thing for his team to achieve either but I think there is a question of
ethics and responsibility in how May has approached Brexit. She’s clearly given
into the jingoistic, right-wing side of her party and has frankly excluded the
huge minority, the 48% who wanted to remain in the European Union, and that’s
just of the people who voted. I think two things, firstly Theresa May needs to
accept that there are many people in this country who still want Britain to
remain in the European Union and still want Britain to be very close partners
with the European Union and I think that needs to come across in what Britain
will offer at the negotiating table. Secondly on the attitude of the
government, the British government is treating the European Union very badly.
We’re the ones leaving the club and I struggle to sympathise with Theresa May
when she goes marching into Brussels, making declarations and huge demands from
the European Union which frankly, is taken up with other problems: the debt
crisis, the migrant crisis and Russian interference in elections being just 3
of them. There’s sort of a self-centred approach to these negotiations which if
you look back at successful ones such as: Ireland or to end apartheid in South
Africa, these negotiations have been more open to concession and are more
successful. Surely that’s what everyone would want out of this process.
Q: One of the most significant issues surrounding Brexit is
of course trade. How do you think we should approach a trade deal and do you
think we can have a ‘good deal’ by March 2019?
A: I think the first thing to accept is we will not get as
good as deal as we currently have being a full member of the European Union. I
think Theresa May, Liam Fox and David Davis should acknowledge that the best
deal should be to remain in the European Union and not to expect from these
negotiations anything that will level with it or be better. On how to get a
trade deal, it sort of links back to my last answer that the way we approach
the negotiations is going to have a massive effect on what Britain will achieve
economically, socially and also for our immigration system. The whole issue of
Ireland, as we’ve seen recently with the DUP, is going to really split the
Conservative Party and split the whole of the British side of the negotiations,
this may prevent us from getting a ‘good deal’ by 2019. I think that the issue
with trade is that it all just seems to be a bit of a game at the moment, it’s
all an issue of ‘what can we get out of the European Union’ and ‘what numbers
will look better for Theresa May’ and very rarely do we find Theresa May
showing any detailed plans. For example, recently these 50-60 ‘impact
assessments’ that David Davis has been referring to have turned out not to
exist. I think it’s this hollow, treading water approach of just saying a few
nationalist phrases over and over again in the media to suit the appetite of
the far right in the conservative party. That is not going to work. When it
comes to trade negotiations we need detail and I feel the public deserve to
know what that detail is. I think until we can have that detail, there’s no
chance of having as good a deal by 2019.
Q: How do you think Brexit has impacted the global political
scene and do you think it will restart debates over previous independence
referendums such as Scotland’s?
A: I think on Scotland, as soon as the vote was called,
Nicola Sturgeon was talking about reruns of the referendum. A few years ago the
Scottish independence referendum was a referendum of a lifetime but now the
Scottish parliament have now shown that there is an interest in holding a
second independence referendum. Personally I’ve always been sceptical of
holding referendums, I think there are too many issues to be phrased into one
question, I think it undermines the role that parliament plays and it questions
the importance of our parliamentary democracy. Being naturally sceptical of
referendums, I think it will have an effect on Scottish independence and Welsh
independence in the future and actually, although I don’t agree that holding
the first referendum was viable, I think that if you’re going to have a first
referendum and recognise it, you have to recognise the second referendums and
independence referendums in devolved countries. I think there’s going to be a
real issue over the next few years about how we respond to the growing cries
for devolution of powers post-Brexit, from parties like Plaid Cymru and the SNP
as well. On Brexit’s impact on the global political scene, it would be an
underestimation to say it shook the world. I think the message of some leave
voters who said ‘that will show the European Union’ didn’t truly come true. The
leave campaign were saying it would be the start of a run of dominos, if
Britain left we’d have the Greek Exit, France leaving under Marine Le Pen but
since then we’ve had Macron being elected President of France and he is a
Pro-EU liberal. Although we’ve had the rise of the AFD in Germany, there’s been
a growing number of Germans who are in favour of further European integration.
So, on Brexit’s international effect, it’s a lot of show. There’s not a lot of
actual substance to change the way European politics works but I think we
haven’t reached enough detail in the negotiations, we don’t quite know how it’s
unfolding. I think it’s difficult to say the overall impact Brexit has had on
the global political scene but I don’t think it’s been as effective as many
leave voters wanted it to be.
Q: Regardless of the future, I think as a nation we need to
unite for the best outcome. This could easily begin with the nation’s youth. What
can young people do locally to assist the Brexit situation?
A: Locally, young people should contact their MPs. Contact
their representatives, scrutinise votes in parliament, be up to date, keep on
your guard! Politics is a multi-sided task and you can’t just leave it up to
politicians to make decisions. Politics is a conversation, it’s something you
do. I think particularly with Brexit, we need to be constantly questioning the
decisions Parliament are making. Although Theresa May didn’t intend parliament
to have a huge role, the lack of a majority Conservative government means our
MPs do have very strong voices, look at the DUP, stalling the negotiations in
the 11th hour. MPs in Parliament now have such an immense influence
as individuals over the debate that actually contacting and scrutinising your
MP will have such a huge effect on the outcome of the these negotiations. Doing these
things is a great way of raising your concerns and using your voice in-between
elections and referendums.
Q: Moving onto more personal questions, you’re the Youth
Officer for Mid Worcestershire Labour which is an incredible achievement. Do
you support the direction Corbyn is taking Labour in and is there much
animosity between the party factions as a result of it?
A: I’ve been a member of the party for 7 years now and
there’s certainly been ups and downs in the membership, but now I don’t think
there’s any animosity between party factions, in fact I don’t think there are
so many party factions, particularly post-election. In the news there’s no
criticism of Corbyn’s leadership, there’s no question of his leadership and I
think that’s a strength. I think for Corbyn’s direction of the party, within 2
years the whole nature of the party has changed. It’s gone from a party of
70,000 when I joined to a mass-movement of half a million, just the numbers
themselves will change the very nature and purpose of the Labour party, now the
biggest party in Europe. I think in terms of expanding politics and bringing
politics to more people, I certainly support that with Jeremy Corbyn. That’s
certainly been my experience as a delegate of conference this year, we hear on
the news of previous conferences having delegates briefing against each other
and just being generally nasty but this year the atmosphere was one of joy,
excitement, optimism, hope and that’s not bigging it up or putting a political
spin on it, that was my human experience of an event like that. I think in
terms of making Labour a mass movement I certainly support the direction Corbyn
is taking the party in.
Q: If you asked the countries youth about their political
opinions, many of those interested in politics would identify as left wing
and/or a Labour supporter. What do you think attracts young people about Labour
and the left in general?
A: I think this is quite a recent thing and certainly it can
be attributed to Corbyn’s leadership, Brexit and the 7 year austerity agenda. I
think before then, young people weren’t necessarily taken in by the Labour
party or convinced by our manifestos or campaigning platform. I think what
attracts people to the Labour party now is it has a very different message to
the conservatives, as a campaigner in the 2017 general election compared to the
2015 general election there was a lot more on the doorstep that I could have
discussions about. I could talk to conservative voters and non-voters and
labour voters etc and I could really make the point about why Labour is
different and therefore why it is worth voting Labour. I think it’s that
difference to the conservative party, it’s that difference to UKIP and it’s
that difference to the Liberal Democrat that is really making Labour appeal to
young people. I’d like to make a point on young people and the Labour party,
after the election there was a lot of criticism from commentators that the only
reason young people voted Labour is because they were ‘bought out’ by the
promise of scrapping tuition fees. It seems there’s a double standard in the media
between young people supporting the Labour party and, this is a bit of a broad
brush but, pensioners and those in their 50s and 60s supporting the
conservative party. The Labour parties promise to young people to scrap tuition
fees is no much more of a buyout or a sell-out or a con than the conservatives
promise on the triple lock on pensions. I think it’s really interesting to see
in the media that young people are being targeted because before we’ve seen
them disenfranchised, not turning out to vote, not being interested in politics
and that was turned on its head last election. I think firstly that changes the
whole game, it makes young people worth going out to campaign for from a
political perspective and two I think it makes young people attracted to the
labour party as opposed to the conservatives.
Q: You’ve of course been involved with political parties for
years, unfortunately not all young people are as enthusiastic. What do you
think the political scene must improve on to attract young people to
participate and do you think Corbyn has made a large impact on this issue himself?
A: I think a very simple change would lowering the voting
age to 16, we live in a society where we expect young people to participate in
politics but we don’t give them the vote. I heard in the House of Commons the
other day, an MP rose and made the point that: At 16 you can marry your MP,
have a child with your MP, sign up to the army to potentially fight in a war
for your MP but you cannot vote for who your MP is. I think that’s a neat
summary of the situation we’re in where we’re asking young people ‘why aren’t
you involved in politics?’ and ‘why aren’t you campaigning on local or national
issues?’ and it’s very easy, young people aren’t given the vote. They’re not
trusted, that’s a real opportunity missed. Giving young people the vote is a
simple legislative change that would affect the whole country. I also think the
political scene is too rough, whether it’s down to the media, whether it’s down
to politicians during Prime Ministers Questions barking at each other, it’s too
rough. I think there are a lot of people in politics who don’t want to be
involved because of the foul language, because of the briefing against each
other, because of the backstabbing, because of the nastiness. I think that’s
particularly been intensified with social media and twitter and so on. The
whole political scene is a nasty place to be in. It’s not healthy, it’s not
healthy for a democracy and it’s not healthy for young people who want to be
more involved and to have their voices heard in local politics and national
politics.
Q: Personally I consider local MPs a key factor in
increasing youth participation. What do you suggest local MPs do in their
constituencies to attract young people to participate?
A: I think in the real world, MPs should make every effort
to go into schools and talk to people, talk to students but not just to talk to
them, to listen to them. To actually go into schools, sit there, and listen to
what young people, people without a vote, would like you to do rather than to
sell your message and promote your agenda. Although you may not be able to vote
for your MP, your MP represents you just as much as your parents or your
friends who can vote in your constituency. So in the real world I think MPs
should try and make themselves more accessible in schools and colleges but I
think online, MPs should and I think a lot do actually, use social media
effectively. There’s got to be a balance as MPs have to have privacy as it’s
part of, as I said earlier, making politics a healthier place to be, but MPs
should be as open and accessible to as many people as possible. It may be that,
and it may sound a bit cringey, the MP needs to have Instagram or twitter or
snapchat or at least something young people might use and to be open to more
people than just the average 45/50 year old voter. I think accessibility is the
key to improve the relationship between MPs and their younger constituents.
Q: Your achievement in becoming the Youth Officer for Mid
Worcestershire Labour is as I said before, very impressive. What advice would
you give someone looking to get heavily involved with youth party politics?
A: I’d say, go along to a meeting or go along to a protest.
You could even pick up your local paper and see what the issues are because
there is something, I can promise you, an issue which you may not have known
about but really does affect your life. We all care about our local community,
we all care about how we live together, that’s sort of natural and I think if
you want to get heavily involved you can. We are fortunate to live in pretty
much a democracy, join a party! It costs about a pound to join a political
party, go out and start a petition, go out and write to your MP and scrutinise
what they do. A lot of it is a confidence issue and I totally get that but
maybe you and a friend could start a petition or both follow up on an issue.
That initial nervousness of going into a new group or meeting lots of new
people, I get that it can be very frightening for some people as it’s out of
their comfort zone, but really it’s the only way you can achieve change. If you
want to see an improvement in your local community, if you want to see the
values that you have put back into politics, you have to stand up and do
something and whatever you think that action is, you have to get out and do it and
you need to get out and do it as soon as you can.
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