Some thoughts about political preferences which have been going round my head over the weekend. I think I might have the beginnings of something which might be interesting... 1/13
When we make choices about which party to support, we want to see a number of things which are important to us reflected in the stance/policies of that party. 2/
We also have a number of things which are red lines, which if crossed, mean that we are likely to withhold our support, even if much of the rest of the offer is a good one. 3/
So, there are a number of issues we each look at, and a range of good or acceptable responses which we expect political parties to give in relation to each issue. 4/
My thought is that a) the number of issues we each look at is increasing (and becoming ever more disparate); b) the range of acceptable responses in relation to each issue is shrinking; and c) the number of red lines is increasing. 5/
If that's right, it must lead to a situation in which it is becoming ever more difficult for a political party to appeal successfully to a broad base of people. 6/
All this is easily visible in relation to the machinations of the Labour party. It seems unable to fashion a policy offer which passes muster with sufficient numbers of its voter base (and almost anything it does attracts loud opposition). 7/
But, it is much less visible in relation to the machinations of the Tory party. The Govt gestures at Brexit, or levelling up, or ramping up its COVID efforts, or whatever, and notwithstanding the lack of substance, its voter base seems content. 8/
So, I wonder... first, is it right that we are becoming more difficult to please (in political terms); and second, is it right that this plays differently on the left and the right of politics? 9/
If so, what can be done (from a left wing perspective) to enable agreement and compromise on the left, and to increase the scrutiny of the policy choices of the right? 10/
My sense is that there might well be a close connection between 'principle' on the left and 'pragmatism' on the right, which, in effect, makes life easier for parties of the right. There's a lesson there for voters of the left. 11/
But, I also think that the tendency towards becoming more difficult to please also exists on the right (especially as policy after policy is seen not to make a positive difference). 12/
I'm not sure quite how to end this. I have good thoughts about the gap between left and right closing; bad thoughts about a wholesale erosion of trust in politics; and difficult thoughts about compromise and pragmatism and how the policy-making process can foster those. 13/13
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Yesterday I wrote a thread about people's increasingly fractured political preferences. I said that we were becoming less easy to please, and that this made it increasingly difficult for political parties to craft a message with broad appeal. 1/16
The thread got a lot of very interesting responses, for which 🙏.
A lot of the responses, perhaps unsurprisingly, said that some form of proportional representation was the answer. 2/
I'm a big fan of PR. But if the problem is that political preferences are ever more fractured, I don't think that PR does anything more than move, rather than solve, the problem. 3/
Not for the first time, I get the feeling that the Government hasn't thought things through. It has, once again, left students and universities facing huge uncertainty. 1/5 bbc.co.uk/news/uk-580096…
We are told to expect decisions - on whether students will be required to get vaccinated before going to university - in September. We are also told that this will amount to giving students 'advance warning'. 2/5
If students are to need to be vaccinated before coming to uni and haven't yet had the first dose, and there are 8 weeks between doses and 10 days before vaccine protection kicks in... *it is already too late* for the start of term. 3/5
Strong stuff here from David, and it is all fully merited.
The 'sign then renege' manoeuvre is (unsurprisingly) corrosive of trust. And things don't look good for 'global Britain' if the rest of the world doesn't trust the UK.
The bits on governance (66-72) and on standstill periods and a freeze on legal actions and processes (77) make it very clear that this is not an attempt to reach agreement.
Para 77 is a thing of beauty.
It says: we believe we and the EU should agree a ‘standstill’ on existing arrangements, including the operation of grace periods in force, and a freeze on existing legal actions and processes...
One thing struck me - from a news management perspective - about today's briefing.
On 'freedom day', much of the media focus is on the announcement that the Govt will, in September, introduce a vaccine passport scheme for clubs and mass events. 1/5
On the face of it, this looks like an own-goal by an incompetent Govt. On 'freedom day', it has managed to alienate many businesses and many of its own MPs.
You can add their critical voices to those opposed to the 'reckless' easing of restrictions. 2/5
There may, though, be method in the madness. Here's my theory.
The critical voices of those opposed to the 'reckless' easing of restrictions have, literally, been marginalised. *Instead* we hear the voices of those urging a return to pre-COVID normal. 3/5
But first, two 'corrections'.
In the tweets on the attempts to shore up power, I omitted to refer to the 'anti-protest' law, described here by @IanDunt. It merits a place.
And there (obviously) shouldn't be an apostrophe in 'its' in tweet 6. 2/ politics.co.uk/comment/2021/0…
So... how should we respond? The first key thing is to accept the inevitability that many of us, who all see the Johnson govt as a danger, will disagree (perhaps profoundly) about the best way forward. The disagreements are here to stay. 3/
The debate about 'levelling up' prompts this 10-tweet summary of the Johnson Govt. 1/10
The Johnson Govt excels at 'sloganeering populism'. 'Get Brexit Done', 'Global Britain', 'Freedom Day'... and now 'Levelling up'.
The rhetoric projects energy and is meant to show a Govt devoted to 'the people's priorities'. 2/10
Behind the rhetoric, one might hope for some substance, and for at least the beginnings of a coherent policy agenda. And yet - be it the relationship with the EU or the wider world, COVID or tackling inequality - there is *nothing*. 3/10