Last night the country voted for a quick exit: for Brexit. Boris stuck to the PR plan of Lynton Crosby, Dominic Cumming, the PR and the soundbites and it was hard for the manifestos of hope to have a moment.
What was stunning though, is that although the turnout was on average about 68% that in some areas the turnout was up to 80 percent. (Rushcliffe turnout was 67.2 and Cheryl Pidgeon Labour 21,122 lost to Ruth Edwards 28,765. The Lib Democrat Jason Billin increased their vote by 11.1 % winning 9,600 votes. Nadia Whittome in Nottingham East did brilliantly even though the turnout was 64%.).
Even though the conservatives have won, it’s a very exciting time. The conservatives are going to deliver many of the things that the other parties worked so hard for. It’s as if they’re white labelling left of centre economics in infrastructure, public, social and cultural spending plans but I want it to be real, not just marketing for more of the same kind of toxic corporate development with the kinds of supply chains that lead to Grenfell, London Bridge and the death of Jaden Moodie. We need to break up, challenge the tendency for ‘bigger is better’ into a sense that every part of the UK deserves quality of life representation and a truly rich, diverse economy. The UK is very sick in many places and scorching and burning, shocking and aweing with water cannon and dumper trucks are not going to regenerate, rehabilitate and bring the health we all aspire to. The health we need is about reintegrating a sense of possibility and future for everyone.
We need to challenge bureaucracy and turn compliance into real relationships. We need to think about Hillsborough, London Bridge, Grenfell, the kinds of supply chains we’ve accepted that are reflected in so many deaths of young people, the brutalisation of agency/rentier/gig and gang/prison labour charity, volunteering and dementia capital spectre that haunts our health, wealth and happiness.
We need less talk ‘about’ people, more conversations, partnerships and cooperation with them. Less mediation, fewer agencies, more new kinds of jobs, training and opportunity that come from the local. Let’s make the local fertile. Let’s grow people.
I want to work to make all parties more democratic and representative and to create a culture where all of the parties have more respect for voters and actively work to make technology and people work better together. The environment and culture of organisations we’ve created through technology is needlessly war like and aggressive.
We need a kinder labour party. The swing from labour to conservative is probably more to do with a new kind of 21st century feudal deference, gig and gang labour jobs, the rentier economy which has harmed a sense that you can challenge these mega structures and the people who manage and run them.
It’s a new era and we need to encourage everyone to vote. Let’s campaign for 100 % voter registration in the UK, for proportional representation and a commitment to improving the infrastructure, transport, rail, telecoms, broadband, health education and new kinds of part time creative jobs with proper contracts and training throughout the lifecycle.
If prisoners are used by highly profitable mass furniture producers as workers while they’re in prison, for example, let’s celebrate that and give those prisoners the credit they deserve. They need to have the opportunity to grow into society not be on a leash that sends them back into prison.
We need to build new relationships in Britain and find out what people really want and need, get in there and do it. Conversations with more people across all the social divides give people hope and create new ways of living and thinking: the attention of the conservatives to working class people in this election has paid off. Now the structures of proper, regular connection that are needed for health, wealth and happiness need to be delivered.
The election is the beginning of a fantastic potential new types of creative jobs, training and opportunities and secure private lives, a real opportunity though to remember that we have an economy that needs to evolve and to work for everyone, not the few.
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