Why would anyone choose to enter politics right now? Brexit chaos, historically low trust in politicians and politics, hate all over social media, the ever-present establishment resistance to change and, of course, all the infighting – it’s not exactly an enticing concoction. I’ve been the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour party in Chingford and Woodford Green since last July and, while my new working regime is intense, I’ll let you into a secret: grassroots campaigning, and standing up for the change you believe in, is fun. I want you to join me.
The new Independent Group MPs claim they are the “new politics”. I find this ironic because I joined Labour more than two years ago, when it was at one of its lowest points in the polls precisely because I wanted to support a new politics. The Jeremy Corbyn project was unexpected and different, much like the Bernie Sanders campaign in the US. All the people who had put me off the Labour party with their incrementalism, selling out of immigrants, tacit approval of cruel welfare changes, and pro-war views, were no longer in charge. There was finally a political movement for all the policies I’d been working on, and a chance to address the gross inequalities I’d been watching get worse for years.
Fast-forward two years and I’m out every Saturday knocking on doors. While I can’t tell you what it feels like to be inside the parliamentary Labour party, I can tell you what it feels like to be a Labour candidate fighting in a Tory marginal seat. Every week this year dozens of Labour activists have turned up – of all ages, ethnicities and faiths – as well as Labour MPs from all wings of the party. These activists have become my family, they look out for me, give me support and generously give their ideas and time. They knock on doors and talk about me with so much enthusiasm it’s as if I’m their family. It’s beautiful.
We all share a common cause: unseating Iain Duncan Smith and getting a Labour government. The Independent Group MP Heidi Allen may protest that her proto-party needs time before formulating any policies, but we already understand that 40 years of a profit-obsessed, market-fundamentalist approach has fractured the country and needs an urgent overhaul. We understand the essential lie of a centrist programme that teams equality legislation with spending cuts and privatisation. We also know our problems didn’t begin, and will not end, with Brexit. Even with EU regulation, a Centre for Labour and Social Studies report has recently found that one in three workers struggle to keep up with the basic cost of living.
Given the propaganda TIG is pumping out, it is easy to forget that since Corbyn became leader it is Labour that has been on the real anti-establishment crusade. The group who join me knocking on doors feels like a community – a far cry from the “hard left bullies” we keep hearing about in the news. That’s not to say there aren’t important changes to be made, not least in how the party deals with antisemitism within its ranks. We must be the leaders on anti-racist policies and practice.
And with opposition now coming from those who used to be part of our movement, a fresh injection of energy is needed. We must encourage vibrant representatives into the movement. The next wave of Labour MPs must know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of bad policy so we can fight with true conviction. We must look and sound like the communities we seek to represent. To the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes that I know exist across this country, we need you ready in all of the places TIG MPs sit.
We must champion brave policy ideas that match the challenges we face. Policies to tackle climate breakdown are particularly important, drawing in young people and pressing for a green jobs revolution in this country. TIG’s empty policy offer is a reminder that centrist politics has no new ideas, nothing to sell but opposition to Brexit and no ideas about what should follow if it were halted.
What this country needs is a clear programme for increasing the voice of everyday people in our democratic system. On one thing TIG is correct. British politics is broken. We need to pull together a programme of democratic reforms – transforming the House of Lords and exploring how proportional representation in parliament could work. This will show we are serious when it comes to delivering a political system for the many.
The first time I was called a politician in a TV interview I felt my heart sink – it wasn’t exactly a lifelong ambition. But if not now, when so much is at stake, then when? This is the age for new people, new policies and new perspectives. TIG may have spent serious money testing what taglines it should use in media interviews (it’s not a party, so it doesn’t have to declare spending). “A new politics” is what it came up with. Lucky for Labour, we are the real thing. It’s up to us – a new generation of democratic socialists – to shape the movement going forward.
• Faiza Shaheen is Labour PPC for Chingford and Woodford Green
