Thread by @tony_nog

1) Let's talk (again) about Free Movement of People & #Brexit

I'm going to use the full title here (FMoP) for reasons that will become clear

Free Movement of People is progressive, by definition. The freedom to control your life.
No definition of "progressive" takes rights away

2) I choose to work in 28 countries, if that exposes me to exploitation I expect the state to intervene & protect me, not take away my rights

Removing my rights in the name of stopping "exploitation" is victim blaming, pure & simple

3) if I can work in 28 countries, I have agency over a major part of my future. If that right is taken away, someone else has control.
Anyone of above average income already has effective freedom of movement, taking it away only impacts one group

4) if I refer to people as being "imported", I dehumanise and degrade them.If I choose to "fix" that by going after the "imported" rather than the "importers", my priorities are screwed

If I value people only by what they can contribute in cash/skill terms, I've lost perspective

5) would it be great to extend Free Movement of People to the world? Ye, ideally, but I'll take 10-15 additional countries in 10 years as a good start.

And you don't fix it by going backwards.

6) removing free movement of people (whilst prioritising free movement of capital, goods, services) can *never* be progressive, or socialist.
Trucks can cross borders but not people? No one who believes this can call themselves socialist

7) hence the full title. It's not Free Movement, it's FM of people, along with goods, services and capital.
When you take it away you place FM of people at the bottom of the pile. Trade first, people a distant 4th

8) they said the minimum wage would cost jobs, that the NHS would bankrupt the country, that extending the vote to all men and then all women would cause chaos.

But progressives still fought for them.

They didn't sacrifice them for a few northern votes

9) I wrote this blog over a year ago. Ending FMoP will reduce the population by 0.14% per year - that's it

In a functioning society 0.14% cannot hold wages down,or cause a housing crisis, or flood the NHS

Progressives know this, political cowards do too

musealoudblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/imm…

10) this is Labour Leadership today
The real meaning of this tweet is "we'll sacrifice the rights and agency of the working class both here and internationally, to appease a minority of Kippers (in the vain hope they'll be red Kippers)"
Not progressive, certainly not socialist