Benefits of Brexit

Echo Chambers

One of the challenges of our social media age is the tendency for us all to inhabit our own little echo-chambers, where the posts we view tend to reinforce our own views and prejudices. This is perhaps no more so than in relation to the ongoing debates around Brexit. I seem to be getting a lot of Facebook posts at the moment, from fellow remain supporters asking for anyone to tell them, please, what are the benefits of Brexit.

While I am quite clear about what, to me, seem to be the disadvantages of Brexit (both for the people of the United Kingdom and those of Europe), and the advantages of us remaining in the EU, I have previously been rightly challenged to listen to the other side and to think critically about the drawbacks of the European Union and the benefits of us leaving.

The Benefits of Brexit

So I have had a go and here are what I see as some of the benefits of us leaving the EU. Others who are more in favour may well be able to identify other benefits and to articulate them more clearly than I ever could, but here are my starters:

Leaving the EU on the 31^st October would put an end to the uncertainty that has plagued our country for the last 3 years. At least, then, we would know where we stand, and the government, civil service and parliament could start turning their attention to dealing with all the damage that has been (and likely will continue to be) caused by the outcome of the referendum;
It will silence the ongoing complaints of those who voted to leave (and, more importantly, those who champion themselves as the voice of those who voted to leave – and, by extension, the ‘voice of the people’ that the government, parliament, the press, and those who feel strongly that leaving the EU are not respecting the will of the people);
It will mean we can have a general election that focuses on the needs of our country, rather than just this single issue of whether we should stay or leave;
It will reduce the paralysis of the civil service and government caused by over 3 years of preparations for Brexit (although I note that it won’t eliminate it, since there will still be a long drawn out period of actually implementing our withdrawal where other government priorities continue to take second place);
More significantly, and this, to me, is perhaps the only genuine benefit that I can see, it provides an opportunity to challenge the dominant paradigm in both the EU and in our country that constant economic growth is something to be strived for.

If economic growth is indeed one of the principles on which the EU is founded, then that will not have benefitted the Union’s least privileged countries or individuals. By leaving the EU, we have an opportunity to emphasise that a strong, united economic bloc is not necessarily what we should be striving for.

However, it is disturbing that the importance of constant economic growth seems to underlie many of the arguments both for leaving and remaining in the EU. I am increasingly convinced though, that this is a flawed model, and what we should be aiming for is a stable, sustainable economy, not one of constant growth (Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics presents a particularly helpful appraisal of this).

The third objective of the European Union is to ‘work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy’. So, while economic growth is there, it does set it in the context of sustainable development.

And, if you look at those in the government who are promoting Brexit at any cost, it is hard not to conclude that they are doing so for their own economic and political gain, not for any desire to challenge this underlying paradigm.

Perhaps what is needed is other voices to challenge the status quo, regardless of whether we are in or out of the EU; and just perhaps, staying in the EU and pressing for the upholding of the underlying principles of peace, freedom, security and justice, with respect for the rights of individuals and of national, cultural and individual diversity, will be more effective in doing so.

I remain grateful to my friends, relatives and colleagues who have different views on Brexit to mine, and who challenge me to listen and to question my own views. In light of that, I would always welcome any genuine thoughts on how leaving the EU really will benefit the UK and its people.

August 9, 2019

What are your priorities?

Boris’ Priorities

Last week Boris Johnson posted on my Facebook page telling me his priorities for the country and asking me for mine. Apart from wondering who had funded this marketing campaign, I was deeply disturbed by the underlying message: his top priority, highlighted in bold and set apart, way above any other priority was to deliver Brexit by 31^st October.

I am disturbed at the thought that a prime minister of our country could put, as his top priority – far above any concern for the health, safety and well-being of our citizens, driving through a controversial political decision that many believe will be deeply damaging to our country, and one to which a substantial proportion of the citizens of the country, and their representatives in parliament are opposed.

These past few weeks it has felt as though dark clouds have gathered over our land. Events in Westminster convey a sense of a few unscrupulous men[1] seeking personal power and wealth regardless of what that might mean for our country and for ordinary people.

So what do I think should be the top priorities for our government at this time?

In no particular order, here are my top five:

Ensuring that the most vulnerable members of our society can afford a decent basic standard of living;
Reducing the gross inequalities in wealth and privilege that exist in our society;
Providing affordable and accessible housing for all;
Tackling climate change and environmental damage;
Reversing the impact of years of austerity and ensuring that teachers, police officers, social workers, doctors and nurses have the resources they need to do their jobs well.

To achieve that will inevitably mean higher taxes for those who are financially well off (and I recognise that includes me); it will mean addressing the tax-avoiding activities of individuals and corporations; it will mean substantial investment in public services and housing; it will mean investing in renewable energy and public transport and putting a halt to environmentally damaging projects such as the expansion of Heathrow and HS2.

And therein lies the rub – all of those threaten the wealth, privilege and comfort of those with the money and power who seem to be influencing our current government.

Having received, unsolicited, a post of Boris Johnson’s priorities for our country, I thought I might take the opportunity presented by his survey to tell him what I thought the government’s priorities should be. But, in order to take part in the survey, I had to agree to the Conservative Party using the information I provide to keep me updated via email, online advertisements and direct mail about the Party’s campaigns and opportunities to get involved. That is not something I want to agree to, nor, I suspect, will most others who do not share Boris Johnson’s views. So when, in a few weeks’ time, the prime minister says that the results of his survey of the nation’s views overwhelmingly support his drive to get us out of the EU at all costs, once again, this will be based on biased and distorted data.

[1] it does seem to be men – white, wealthy and public-school-educated – whoops, that describes me, too.

April 3, 2019

Authoritative Leadership and Relational Power

An opportunity for Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn

A few years ago I wrote an editorial on authoritative practice in child protection. The concepts I explored in that editorial, and later developed in our 2011-14 Triennial Review of Serious Case Reviews have formed the basis of what I have striven for in my own safeguarding practice. It seems to me that these principles of authoritative leadership are what is so badly needed in today’s political storms.

At the heart of authoritative leadership are three values of authority, empathy (or compassion), and humility.

In her speech yesterday, Theresa May reached out to the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, offering to work with him to try and find a way forward for Brexit. In doing so, I believe that she was showing the marks of a true leader, and opening an opportunity for both of them to display the kind of authoritative leadership that our country so badly needs. She has come under intense criticism for doing so, both from the media and from her own party, with her approach being condemned as a sign of weakness.

Far from being a sign of weakness, I think Theresa May has shown both courage and integrity. I hope that Jeremy Corbyn will show the same courage and integrity in response.

Authority

In my 2013 Editorial, I suggested that

‘Authority, properly understood, is not assumed or unregulated power, but something that is earned, and is dependent on the holder’s character, knowledge and skills as much as their position.’

I may not agree with everything that either Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn say, do, or stand for, but one thing I admire in both of them is their integrity. It seems to me that they both hold strong principles and genuinely are striving to do what is best for this country and its people. They have held to these principles, even in the face of criticism from within their own party.

It seems to me that true authority arises not from unilateral, assumed or unregulated power but from relational power, and this is what is needed in our current political climate.

‘Relational power may be seen as including three elements: the ability to be actively and intentionally open to the world around us; the capacity to create ourselves out of relationships with others; and the ability to sustain internal relationships, to influence others by having first been influenced by them.’ (Mesle, CR. 2016 Relational Power, Personhood and Organizations)

Empathy

To be open and attentive to the rights and needs of those around us, to actively listen and learn from them, and to support while being prepared to challenge and not collude are marks of true leadership. This is the kind of political leadership we have seen recently in New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern in her response to the shootings in Christchurch.

I was challenged recently to listen more to those who are arguing in favour of Brexit, rather than remaining entrenched in my own views; to seek to understand why others take the position they do, and to see that in terms of those who see leaving the EU as a route towards greater justice. I may not agree with their conclusions, but my friends were absolutely right – I do need to look at the other side of the coin and not dismiss those views that run counter to my own.

In her speech, Theresa May described Brexit as something ‘that the British people voted for’. It may be just a small change in language, but this came as a breath of fresh air amidst the ongoing claims that Brexit represents ‘the will of the people’. By referring to leaving the EU as what the people voted for acknowledges that this was what 17 million people voted for 3 years ago, in response to what has been shown to be a flawed referendum. It leaves the door open to recognising that this may not any longer represent the will of the people. Perhaps in this, our prime minister is showing the seeds of empathy and listening.

Humility

Humility is the value that is perhaps most misunderstood and frowned on in relation to authoritative leadership, and yet I believe it is the most crucial component of such leadership.

Humility needs to be understood, not in a derogatory or self‐deprecating way, but as a positive quality that enables leaders to recognise their own limitations, to acknowledge and use their skills and strengths, and to seek to improve their leadership.

Humility recognises that none of us possesses a monopoly of knowledge and skills; that we are interdependent on each other; and that we all have weaknesses as well as strengths, so we need to be constantly seeking to learn and to grow.

So much of what I see in parliament at the moment is arrogance, entrenched positions and self-interest dominating the debates. I long to see confident humility displayed in our leaders. I believe we caught glimpses of it in Theresa May’s speech yesterday. Jeremy Corbyn has the opportunity to take the same path. And, if they come together, I believe they could find a positive way to take us forward, whatever the final outcome may be.

A second referendum?

If Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn wanted to show real leadership, they could do far worse than seeking to ascertain what the British public want now, in 2019, with the full facts before them and clear options to choose from. It may well be that a majority would still want to leave the EU and would support a deal to achieve that. If so, the government would have a much clearer mandate to proceed. Conversely, if a majority now voted to remain, a clear reappraisal would be needed. The government has respected the outcome of the referendum by seeking to come up with a deal; true democracy should now return to the people with that deal and any alternatives. That would be authoritative leadership in action.

November 13, 2016November 12, 2016

Re-reading Malachi: a sermon for Remembrance Sunday

We live in a messed up, hurting world.

Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday on which we give thanks for those who gave their lives for the peace that we have enjoyed for the past 60 years; we remember the horror of war – the pointless loss of innocent lives; we pray for those who live with the ongoing reality of violent conflict; and we strive for greater peace and freedom.

In Bristol, 19,240 shrouded figurines were laid out in memory of the British soldiers who were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1^st July 1916.

100 years later: from 9/11 to 11/9

As we commemorate 100 years from the Battle of the Somme, it is patently clear that we continue to live in a messed up, broken world. We just need to think of the events of this week with the US election; or the Brexit vote just 5 months ago; or the terrible reality of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and all the ongoing terrorism since; or the living reality of the conflicts in Syria and elsewhere.

We seem to be surrounded by violence, intolerance, bigotry and greed: if anything such values seem to be more prominent, and it is easy to lose hope and sink into despondency.

Reading Malachi

The book of the prophet Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. It was written around the time of Nehemiah and the re-settlement of Jerusalem after the exile.

And it is a book of judgment:

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1)

This makes it a really hard book to get to grips with and to reconcile with our understanding of God and the reality of the world we live in. It comes across as a book that incites religious bigotry and division.

A divided world

We like things to be simple, to make sense according to our sense of right and wrong. And so we tend to divide the world into two groups: the righteous and the evildoers; those who are in God’s kingdom and those who are not. And we like to believe that God loves the first group, but hates the others; that God will bless the righteous, but the evildoers will be destroyed.

That was perhaps how the Israelites saw things, and we can read Malachi from that perspective:

‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals.’ (Malachi 1:2-3)

We can read Malachi in that light – divide the world into those who are good and those who are evil; those who are in the kingdom and those who are out.

Religious Bigotry

There are a number of problems with that:

It doesn’t match reality. It is not the evil who suffer for their violence and greed, all too often it is their innocent victims: the young men sent to the trenches of WWI; the innocent civilians in Coventry, Dresden, or Hiroshima; the millions of Jews sent to the gas chambers; the families of those killed in action in Afghanistan or Iraq; the millions of refugees fleeing inconceivable horrors under Islamic State…
Rather than leading to peace, it exacerbates the violence that separates. It is the crusader mentality that prompted those in the middle ages to march out against the infidels, and closer to home, was used by George Bush and Tony Blair to justify military action in Iraq – ‘we are right and God is on our side’. Donald Trump and his rhetoric in the election campaign; the racism that we saw in this country post-Brexit
It infiltrates our churches so that we become exclusive and judgmental. Think about how we, as a church treat people who don’t necessarily conform to our beliefs or behaviour: Muslims, gay people…
It blinds us to the reality that we are just as much to blame.

Are we really that different from those who perpetrate violence and injustice? We like to portray them as evildoers: child abusers, wife batterers, paedophiles, corrupt bankers and stock brokers, bigoted white Americans or Daily Mail readers… The reality may be that we are not that different.

An unfolding word: Re-reading Malachi in a different light

Psalm 119 gives a different perspective on how we can read the words of the prophet Malachi:

The unfolding of your words gives light (Psalm 119:130)

Perhaps, then, a crucial part of challenging religious and any other bigotry is being prepared to have our own prejudices and preconceptions challenged.

So perhaps, in the spirit of this ‘unfolding’ of God’s word, what we need to do is re-read Malachi, in a different light: in the light of Jesus, the Messiah, the sun of righteousness who has risen with healing in his wings; the one who came, not to build walls, but to break down the dividing wall of hostility that separates people; the Prince of Peace, who came to overcome violence and evil, not with yet more force and power, or with tactics of shock and awe, but in humility, non-violence and grace.

Perhaps we need to see the prophecy of Malachi, not so much as a condemnation of those who are different, the evildoers, those who are not in God’s kingdom, but rather as a reflection of the cry of God’s heart: God’s longing for justice and healing; God’s longing for all to know that they are loved and accepted; and God’s longing for all to accept the cleansing and healing that he offers.

If we do that, we will find that most of the words of judgment spoken in the book of Malachi are, in fact, spoken against those who are ‘in’: the people of Israel, God’s chosen people; and particularly against those who claimed to be religious.

A message of hope: the sun of righteousness

We will find also that it is a message of hope: of the sun of righteousness coming with healing on its wings – extending healing to all those who are abused, persecuted or oppressed; those who are hurt by the violence and greed of this broken world; those hurt by the judgments of us who claim to be part of God’s kingdom.

For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. (Malachi 4: 2)

This is not some soft, wishy-washy message of bland acceptance, ignoring the reality of injustice, violence and greed that is in each one of us. God will bring judgment, and it will be like a fire. But it will be like the fire that burns up chaff and stubble in a harvested field, or like the refiner’s fire that burns up impurities in silver or gold. The farmer will only burn up the chaff and stubble in a field that he cares for, the refiner will only put precious metals in the fire. It is not a fire of torment or destruction, it is a purifying fire and one that leads to justice, to healing, to peace, to joy.

So, if the prophet Malachi were to come to our churches today, what do you think he might see? What might he be challenging us to? Where might he be confronting some of our bigotry, complacency or preconceptions?

June 26, 2016

Brexited

After the initial shock of the EU referendum result, I find myself, along with many others, numbed by a deep disappointment and a sense of grief. Like any grief, this brings up different emotions: emotions I have seen echoed in Facebook posts and in the words and faces of friends.

Grief – as I explored in a previous blog, “What’s natural about a healthy person dying” – combines three core processes: saying goodbye; moving forward; and making sense. So how do I, having voted to remain, turn my grief to something positive, rather than sinking into despondency, or bitterness and blame?

Making Sense

Much as I espoused the values of the European Union, and what seemed to me the benefits of remaining a part of that, I have done so within the privileged context of a democratic society – something my ancestors fought hard to attain, and something that I cannot take for granted. And that democracy has voted to leave.

While it may seem to me that some of those who voted to leave did so for selfish or small-minded motives, while others were driven by fear, or misled by false threats and promises, to taint all Leave-voters with that brush would be to succumb to the same prejudices and generalisations that I objected to in some of the more extreme Leave campaigners. It seems to me that the reality is far more nuanced and varied. There are, undoubtedly, passionate and thoughtful people who voted to leave for much the same reasons as I voted to remain: seeing an exit from the EU as a move to greater justice, freedom and wellbeing. I may disagree with their appraisal, but I hope I may be given the grace to respect and listen to them. And I hope that in the inevitable leadership vacuum which seems now to have imploded into our country, it will be people such as that who rise to fill the gaps and take our country forward into this next phase.

But above all, it seems to me that many of those who voted to leave did so precisely because they felt disenfranchised, marginalised or pushed aside by those in power. People voted because they wanted a change. While there has been a lot of vitriol and blame in the wake of the referendum, there have also been those who have pointed out just how important it is that we take time to listen to those from both sides who used this vote to speak out: those who normally don’t get a voice or any opportunity to influence what happens in our nation.

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 21: 13

Saying Goodbye

Regardless of how we voted, things will no longer be the same. It seems to me that now is a time for grieving by those who voted to remain, and a time for sombre reflection by those who voted to leave. It is right to express our grief: the sense of shock, the disbelief, the feelings of numbness, loss, uncertainty. So the outpourings of emotion that we have seen on Facebook, in our newspapers and on our news channels, and from many of our pulpits, are right and proper.

I have found myself wanting to apologise – to our children, to all those who will be affected by the inevitable economic turmoil, to the many wonderful people from other European countries and elsewhere in the world who have blessed us by coming to our land, to my friends and colleagues in Europe.

And I think it is right that so many have called for a second referendum: right for them to call for it, expressing their anger and disappointment. But much as those feelings need to be expressed, I do not feel it would be at all right to hold a second referendum. That could only lead to even more bitterness and division. No – we need to accept the results and live with the consequences. So while we in the UK will still be part of Europe, we will no longer be a part of the European Union, and we need to go through the process of breaking those ties and saying goodbye.

Moving Forward

And so, as we go through the next few weeks, months and years, and move out of the Union, as we face the turbulence of further economic and political upheaval, we need to also move forward in hope.

And my biggest hope is that somehow, through all this, we will find a way in a post-EU Britain, to maintain and uphold even more strongly the values for which the EU stands: for peace, for justice, care for our neighbour and our world.

“The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail…

It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child…

It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child” – Treaty on the European Union

Holding onto that, it seems to me that we all need to strive even harder to support and hold to account those who represent us in the corridors of Westminster. To put pressure on our MPs to uphold those values, and to lend our support to those who strive for these values.

I will continue to grieve. Perhaps this blog is part of that: expressing something of the disappointment I feel; trying to make sense of what has happened; hoping that we may somehow, in time, recover some of what we have lost; and above all, longing for a Britain and a Europe where peace, justice, and respect and care for our neighbours and our planet prevail.