Written by Briefings For Brexit
This article was first published in Briefings for Brexit and we republish with their kind permission.
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Below is an extended version of a letter written and sent to my local MP, on 20th October 2019.
Dear MP,
I have believed all my life that democracy and fairness are very important aspects of British culture, and that they underpin our sense of national identity. I also believe that ‘Creativity’ and ‘Democracy’ are synonymous and that the UK has long been associated, with these mutually inter-reliant characteristics.
But we have already lost ground.
It seems clear that Parliament’s failure to enact the outcome of the EU Referendum will trigger social disenchantment and cause lasting damage to the concept of democracy, in UK and also throughout the world. A large section of the UK population who voted thoughtfully and in good faith when they were asked to, will be left demoralised and disenfranchised. There are others who want to make a similar claim, but only the majority group has the legitimacy to do so. One person, one vote, means that by democracy’s very nature we cannot always have exactly what we want.
During my lifetime, I have witnessed a rift develop in the UK, perhaps in part caused by the effect of membership of the EU. A split has formed between those who aspire to what they perceive as the more glamorous cosmopolitanism of other European nations and are ashamed of Britishness; and those who are proud of their roots and retain a belief in UK’s resilience, unique achievements and creativity.
Whilst utopian and idealistic, any sense of true kinship to the wider EU population is inevitably likely to be superficial in comparison. It is no simple feat to read the deeper, less conscious, instinctual ways of thinking and feeling that people acquire through family life, environment, language, education and employment, in differing parts of UK, Europe, or the wider world. Difference and dissonance often exist ‘below the waterline’ and it takes time, empathy and compassion to adjust and become attuned, when visiting or living in another location within Europe for instance, or elsewhere.
Like many others, I consider that the cultural rift in the UK has been revealed by the referendum rather than caused by it. Incredibly, people have split from their friends and families over the result and to me this highlights the extremist nature of the cultural schism, where some have come to think that membership of a trading block is more important to them than familial bonds or long established friendships. Such a lack of balance in personal and social priorities suggests a kind of brainwashing, hysteria or groupthink effect may be responsible. A synthetic veneer of narcissism and ego has superseded that which is innate, authentic, nurturing and enduring. The UK media has gleefully seized opportunities to aggravate the split of personality through its relentlessly manipulative channelling of news product.
I have been shocked and disappointed over the last three years to observe how little confidence some people living in the UK have in the UK’s prowess, and by implication in their own personal sense of agency as the individuals who constitute it, to secure trade, or even to sustain the basics of everyday life. Yet clearly by any standards across the world we have so much, and so very much to be grateful for.
Irrational fears and subversion of core values will continue to endanger the stability and cohesion of our communities. How will people find shared ideals to get behind, when a distant bureaucracy is given greater importance than love of family, friendship or the reciprocity of next door neighbours? What possible benefit is enacted when these ideals are denounced as anachronistic or as nostalgia for some lost ‘Little England’? How will we be able to respond creatively to inevitable global challenges when we cannot even get along at home?
As my Member of Parliament you voted to hold the EU Referendum, to invoke Article 50, and to leave the EU in your party’s recent election manifesto. Your constituency voted in a 53% majority to leave in 2016.
Parliament has had over three years to devise and put forward compelling alternatives but nothing has been forthcoming, only game-playing and time-wasting. Many of the key issues concerning UK’s continued EU membership such as sovereignty, governmental accountability, national security, the future ambitions of a United States of Europe or inclusion in the Eurozone, remain avoided or seemingly just forgotten in the frenzied battle to ‘win’ that we have all been subjected to. No wonder our young people’s mental health is in crisis when the attitudes and behaviour of their adult role models is so negative, pessimistic, judgmental and fickle.
Democracy still requires that a majority vote is honoured: it is the only fair and rightful path. Ignoring it in order to remain as we are now, will be seen as a backwards step, a damaging cheat.
It has been so very confusing and difficult to see the way forward. But I believe in your innate creativity and that you will find the strength to help restore the balance. We have an opportunity to face up to fears and to enable transformation, healing and renewal. It can be achieved. There is a route to restore harmony, which in the absence of a viable, creative alternative from the EU, is to leave it with or without a deal, if necessary.
Seize the day: let’s face up to the irrational fears and make a resounding go of it.
Yours sincerely
One of your constituents.
(The author is a practitioner and academic researcher in the field of Design and Creativity, and lives in the North of England. She prefers to keep her identity, and that of her MP, private.)
The point may be missed by some comments. The letter offers a way to understand other perspectives. It is an analysis of the mind-set, the psychological environment in which the perspective of a member of the electorate resides. “The extremist nature of the cultural schism” draws attention to why that schism exists.
Having just had a discussion with an enthusiastic Remainer I can tell you that, as many of you have probably discovered yourselves, there is as though a partial lobotomy has taken place. How indeed can commercial co-operation take precedence over family, in the wider sense? When the point was put that while we all appear to enjoy the cultural differences now, why would we embark on a program that would deny them and indeed cancel them out, the answer then becomes defensive. “Why are people so Nationalistic?” Well of course the answer puts the discussion into a circular nonsense as the response is then that that is what gives us the cultural diversity that we all enjoy in the first place.
I suspect that the sentence, “Whilst utopian and idealistic, any sense of true kinship to the wider EU population is inevitably likely to be superficial in comparison.” is very true. But of course the cake will be eaten before they realise it is gone.
Ok Phillip, you are right perhaps the letter is too long for the intelligence of your average MP, and anyhow it would be too late for their commitment to consider. Nevertheless I enjoyed the letter and it shone more light, thank you.
‘.Incredibly, people have split from their friends and families over the result’
And this is what happened during the English Civil War in the 17th century. How close do you think we are now to another Civil War?
Thank you for your beautifully written letter expressing what I, and I’m sure many others feel. Since we’re reading it, it was not a waste of time.
And to be true to it’s title did need to be sent, although I can’t think of a single other reason for doing so, even, unlikely though this may be, if it was actually read by the intended recipient.
Phillip Smith – yes, of course you must be right – whittle it down to expletives and mis-spell a couple of words, descend into the current vernacular and the world will hear you – yours is a typical ‘modern’ response to eloquent prose, written from the heart – could she have perhaps explained her love of country by simply saying to the Remainers “-uck Off” – might that satisfy your inability to read and understand more than a couple of sentences?
Good English can be written in short bursts, and, although I sometimes write in robust terms, I never use expletives when writing to my MP. It is better to keep it short and to the point, and increase the possibility of it getting read, than to rant on in flowery waffle that will just end up as bin fodder. Brexit is looking more and more like an ancient Greek tragedy drama, but there is no need for it to sound like one.
It occurs to me to wonder whether the writer has ever considered, let alone grasped the fact that pro EU, LabConLib traitors have been conspiring in plain sight for the last 6 decades at least, so wont give a toss about such carefully worded letters.
Sorry if that’s a bit blunt but my fear is the electorate are waking up too slowly, and the higher up the food chain we go, the more reluctant people are to realise they’ve been duped.
I finally understood we’ve been living in the 4th Reich for years and unless enough people realise that, it wont end well, especially for the country with (currently) the 5th largest economy in the world.
Such MPs are interested in self. Not the likes of us. Support Farage to clear out the HoC or rule the day you didnt. Imho.
What a considered and rational letter especially if one compares it to the aggressive abuse we see so often from Remainders. Their honourable response to losing the referendum should have been to accept it and then announce they were starting a campaign to re-join. That way they would at least have had some shred of respect.
JF
Abso – blooming – lutely, JF
Beautifully written and a perfect example of a simple British approach to life. I hope that people of her ilk will rise to the occasion in the coming few weeks and be able to ‘sort the wheat from the chaff’ to come to realise that all we, the majority, wanted was to realise our simple ambition of running our own lives; making our own decisions for this wonderful ‘green and pleasant land’ – and once more become the home of decency with pride and confidence in our own ambitions. I truly believe that that there are enough people of the quality of the ‘writer’ to lead us forth into a magnificent future – if the country rises to the occasion and becomes an independent Nation once more. I hope the message at the end of the coming General Election will be – ‘Eton was beaten’.
My MP does not reply to, or even to acknowledge my letters.
This conservative MP is an arch remainer. The other three legacy parties are similarly anti-Brexit.
So for me at any rate, there is little point to either letters, nor to cast a vote for another party.
Disenfranchised or what?
I did read that the Brexit Party had announced a tranche of candidates, but not reflected on Brexit Party pages nor on the internet as far as I can see.
Their site seems to have little info on how to support the Brexit hopefuls. Looks like I shall have to wait.
This letter is much like many other letters that get written to MPs in that it is way too long and rambling. Some spotty young office intern will probably put this straight in the shredder after wading through the first couple of paragraphs and the MP themselves will never see it. I have found that if you write to your MP, keep it to just one sheet of A4 if possible and make your points briefly. You also need to be clear about what actions you wish the MP to take.