The Monday after the 2016 European Union referendum, then-TD, now president-elect, Catherine Connolly, was on television. She spoke of the Brexit vote as the moment when Leave voters “stood up and said, ‘we see the EU for what it is,’” while describing her shock at senior politicians discussing re-running the vote. Catherine Connolly: friend of the Left. Progressive icon. Amazing basketball player. And would-be Leave voter.
In a recent interview with Mehdi Hasan, Green Party leader Zack Polanski revealed that aiming to rejoin the EU is now the Greens’ policy, partly as polling indicates many Leave voters regret their decision.
Catherine Connolly was, in my view, wrong. The EU may have many faults, but its benefits to the economy far outweigh them.
But I’m not offering an analysis of Connolly’s outlook. Rather, her criticisms which do hold water should rattle the certainty of those like Polanski, the better-in-than-out crowd. Polanski seems to wish to create a coalition of the disenfranchised, whipped up in enthusiasm for his “eco-populism.” Everyone together, against the elites. But EU membership would spit in the face of the ethos of his movement.
Polanski is correct that people perceive Brexit as a mistake: polling from June finds just 31 per cent support for leaving the EU. But 31 per cent of an electorate is a hell of a political force. Keir Starmer won a landslide on 33 per cent. And if Polanski wants to draw support from the traditionally left-wing Red Wall that heavily voted to leave, rejoining the EU will read as little more than a contemptible betrayal from another London politician. Owen Jones pointed out that Jeremy Corbyn couldn’t sustain his electoral coalition without the Leave voters he’d alienated. Look how that turned out: vying for relevance from the backbenches. Or as the Greens call it, business as usual.
And let’s not pretend that the EU is full of great guys. Connolly is correct when she calls them the Establishment, who demand to be asked for permission before countries build homes, or lose track of 10,000 unaccompanied minors within Europe. The Lisbon Treaty pushed for the militarisation of Europe, she says, it enhanced the “neoliberal agenda,” she argues. This is bread-and-butter stuff for left-populists to rail against. Instead Polanski would have us riding shotgun.
So Polanski wants to stand for the everyman but supports doing business with the everyman’s landlord and boss. Like I said, for all my misgivings about the EU, I support rejoining. But I’m not starting a movement which should run a mile from any association with it. Polanski could argue that the EU needs left-wing reform only achieved from the inside, but we haven’t heard any of that yet. So all there is to go on from his messaging is a return to the deceased and decrepit past.
The Greens are pitching to voters who can’t shake their reputation. When polled, a plurality of respondents considered the Greens primarily beneficial to the middle classes. They’re now advocating the leviathan of so-called luxury beliefs. If Polanski wants to create a genuine eco-populist coalition, he has to cool it with anything coded as coming from the “liberal elite.” He doesn’t have to change his policy platform, but put it on the back burner, let more unifying policies come to the fore. To build a populist coalition, the middle-class students will already be onside. Underrepresented, GB News-susceptable communities are who the Greens should be pitching to. Stop trying for the support of people like me. Then you’ll have my vote.
“Carla Denyer and Zack Polanski“ by Bristol Green Party is licensed under CC0 1.0.
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The Monday after the 2016 European Union referendum, then-TD, now president-elect, Catherine Connolly, was on television. She spoke of the Brexit vote as the moment when Leave voters “stood up and said, ‘we see the EU for what it is,’” while describing her shock at senior politicians discussing re-running the vote. Catherine Connolly: friend of the Left. Progressive icon. Amazing basketball player. And would-be Leave voter.
In a recent interview with Mehdi Hasan, Green Party leader Zack Polanski revealed that aiming to rejoin the EU is now the Greens’ policy, partly as polling indicates many Leave voters regret their decision.
Catherine Connolly was, in my view, wrong. The EU may have many faults, but its benefits to the economy far outweigh them.
But I’m not offering an analysis of Connolly’s outlook. Rather, her criticisms which do hold water should rattle the certainty of those like Polanski, the better-in-than-out crowd. Polanski seems to wish to create a coalition of the disenfranchised, whipped up in enthusiasm for his “eco-populism.” Everyone together, against the elites. But EU membership would spit in the face of the ethos of his movement.
Polanski is correct that people perceive Brexit as a mistake: polling from June finds just 31 per cent support for leaving the EU. But 31 per cent of an electorate is a hell of a political force. Keir Starmer won a landslide on 33 per cent. And if Polanski wants to draw support from the traditionally left-wing Red Wall that heavily voted to leave, rejoining the EU will read as little more than a contemptible betrayal from another London politician. Owen Jones pointed out that Jeremy Corbyn couldn’t sustain his electoral coalition without the Leave voters he’d alienated. Look how that turned out: vying for relevance from the backbenches. Or as the Greens call it, business as usual.
And let’s not pretend that the EU is full of great guys. Connolly is correct when she calls them the Establishment, who demand to be asked for permission before countries build homes, or lose track of 10,000 unaccompanied minors within Europe. The Lisbon Treaty pushed for the militarisation of Europe, she says, it enhanced the “neoliberal agenda,” she argues. This is bread-and-butter stuff for left-populists to rail against. Instead Polanski would have us riding shotgun.
So Polanski wants to stand for the everyman but supports doing business with the everyman’s landlord and boss. Like I said, for all my misgivings about the EU, I support rejoining. But I’m not starting a movement which should run a mile from any association with it. Polanski could argue that the EU needs left-wing reform only achieved from the inside, but we haven’t heard any of that yet. So all there is to go on from his messaging is a return to the deceased and decrepit past.
The Greens are pitching to voters who can’t shake their reputation. When polled, a plurality of respondents considered the Greens primarily beneficial to the middle classes. They’re now advocating the leviathan of so-called luxury beliefs. If Polanski wants to create a genuine eco-populist coalition, he has to cool it with anything coded as coming from the “liberal elite.” He doesn’t have to change his policy platform, but put it on the back burner, let more unifying policies come to the fore. To build a populist coalition, the middle-class students will already be onside. Underrepresented, GB News-susceptable communities are who the Greens should be pitching to. Stop trying for the support of people like me. Then you’ll have my vote.
“Carla Denyer and Zack Polanski“ by Bristol Green Party is licensed under CC0 1.0.
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