Yesterday I wrote for a new political blog over at SpeakerChair.com. This website launched this week and has already seen an article from an MP and I know of some very exciting op-ed pieces coming next week. My debut piece was entitled Why the Lib Dems are still a force for good which I think is a good place to start.
I shall still be primarily blogging here but some pieces will appear over there. Obviously all my non-political pieces will still be homed here but some of the politics – certainly the national Lib Dem stuff may go over there depending on how I feel.
A few words about this piece. I really do think many activists get too wound up about what is happening in Westminster and forget about what is going on in town halls and council chambers up and down the country. We worry about the big issues and forget about the small ones. So many people have left the party because of national issues because things are not going as they hoped and they feel helpless to stop it.
In doing this they are walking away from the good stuff that they can be part of locally. No Lib Dem Council has closed any SureStart Children Centre and no Lib Dem Council has closed any libraries. That sounds good to me.
Would I like the Lib Dems in Westminster to listen and act upon everything I say or think? Yes of course I would. However life doesn’t work that way. Would I like to influence more Lib Dem goals at local level? Yes of course I would. However sometimes you do as much as you can and doing something is far better than doing nothing. Fighting hours on end to save a Children’s Centre or a Library or whatever and succeeding actually has a real impact on lives. Giving in and doing nothing doesn’t.
This is why I am a Lib Dem. I’m not enamoured with a lot of what the national party is doing but I can’t influence that. At a local level I can still fight and do something and in all honesty I truly believe that doing something is far better than giving in and doing nothing.
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You present a false dichotomy, though. It is perfectly possible to “do something” without necessarily being a party member. There are charities, volunteering organisations, support groups, non-party-based pressure groups, all of whom engage with government of all levels and all colours. If, say, I campaign for alterations to our bus service as part of the community association, or a users’ group, I get listened to more than when I was doing it as a Lib Dem – because people see I really believe in it and am not just pointscoring off a Tory council.
Of course it is perfectly possible to do something when not a party member. My point was many have left the party and stopped doing anything. They have decided that if the party weren’t for them then they would go home and lick their wounds. I know of several people who have done just this. They are disillusioned with politics as a whole and just given up on doing a thing. For you you may be having more impact now you aren’t involved with the party but for others they have gone completely.
A problem with many people (not just in politics but in all forms of life) is if they can’t influence the big things then they don’t want to bother with the smaller things – and at the moment that attitude is coursing through a lot of veins.