In the first part of this occasional series we asked: “You’re frustrated by politics and you want to do something. But what?” I dismissed ruthlessly – too ruthlessly, according to my colleagues – all those tried and tested attempts at political activism. So, in the second part, we start working towards the nitty-gritty. Where do we start?
Politics is about changing people’s minds. So, everything you do has to be focused on influencing your opponents to act in the way you want, or to co-ordinate your forces towards that end. That means a plan –a step-by-step plan, which will explain to you and your group how it will be achieved. No wishful thinking. Doing something in the vague and unexplained hope that it will work is not only a waste of time but it’s going back to just making a noise. We’re past that.
Look for the big red shiny button
Wouldn’t it be perfect if you had a big red shiny button marked ‘influence’. You could press that button, and all the things you’ve planned happen just as you wanted, and your opponents (or perhaps others you’re trying to bring on board, or the journalists who you want to report your project) sit up and take notice.
Sadly, that button doesn’t exist, so you have to work towards finding its equivalent.
For example, your fervent wish may be to change government policy, but you live in rural Norfolk or a little town in Cambridgeshire. How on earth are you going to do it from there? What influence can you exert from deepest rural Suffolk, say, that will make them jump in Downing Street?
There is nothing, of course –at least not directly. There are too many filters between No.10 and you. But you can begin building towards it, as long as you start local. Local is the key. Find a serious way to put your local politicians – councillors and MP – under pressure.
Village by village, protest can look like an army
Now is a good time, since many MPs are new and desperately want to be seen helping their local constituencies. They will be hyper-sensitive to your complaints and your needs. Is he or she going to do what his voters want, or what his party leader wants? What’s more important to them: keeping the party whips happy, or keeping the seat? Co-ordinate with others locally and then across the country. One village up in arms might be just a few hundred people, but several villages beating the same drum put the local councillor in jeopardy and makes the MP sit up and take notice. Protesting about pylons from across the region is one thing, but protesting village by village across the region looks like an army. Rebellious voters are the first step towards making rebellious MPs, and rebellious MPs put pressure on the government.
Be honest with yourself about exactly how it’s going to work
We’ll come to the details later. The point is, whatever project you have and whether its goal is local or national, unless you can explain to yourself, in easily explained stages, how you’re going to succeed, then you’re probably not. And if you do want to change government policy, then your best way to do it is still local, where you really can have influence and where the government is vulnerable – through the MP or council.
Also, the closer you are to your target, the easier it is to protect the integrity of your own message and the more difficult it is for the politician or CEO of some shapeless corporation to lie to you. When you make a statement to a meeting or the local press, it’s much more difficult for opponents to misrepresent you if they too are local. There isn’t the space. There aren’t enough filters for them to get away with it. So, your message is much more likely not to be twisted. They are facing you across a radio studio, say. Anything they say which is incorrect or misleading, you can knock down.
Get rid of the filters and control the narrative
Likewise, Boris Johnson for example, could tell all the lies he wanted at PMQs, and did, because there was no realistic means of challenging him at the time. It’s those filters again. He could lie to journalists because, unless the hack picks him up on it immediately, there’s too much rigmarole between him and where he said it, and anybody who wants to challenge it. But he couldn’t do that if he were face-to-face with you. You’d know he was lying, he would know you knew, and it wouldn’t work.
But you won’t be arguing with Johnson, of course. You’ll probably be taking on local politicians. Some may have only the haziest notion of the subject, and they are not used to being challenged publicly. So, challenge them. Embarrass them. Show them up. (Humiliation is always the best weapon.) Or, if a large corporation with a glossy HQ in west London is behaving arrogantly, they won’t be remotely pleased if you turn up at their regional office with a few vocal supporters and a local reporter in tow. So, keeping it local, means you can control the message, and controlling the narrative is crucial. We’ll come to that in the next instalment, together with finding support and keeping it fun.
