1st November 2020
Dear Keir
I write as someone who wants to be part of an effective progressive movement in the UK. And also as someone who cares deeply about British politics. I have a first class degree in Political Science, my great grandmother was a suffragette, my grandfather was Secretary General of Liberal International, and my father worked in local government his whole life and was a vocal Labour supporter until a few years ago. I am a musician with several thousand facebook followers; I teach, perform and record. I use my voice politically.
Keir, I want to be part of a party and follow a leader. I want to give maybe 2 hours a week to a healthy democracy and I can't see a party I want to be part of or a leader I want to follow.
I'm particularly concerned about your recent whippings over the Covert Human Intelligence Bill and the Overseas Operations Bill. I'm concerned because it conflicts with two core values that I want to see a leader show.
1) Commitment to peace
As we know, violence begets violence. Britain has a huge legacy of violence in the world; colonialism, the founding of America, the way we've treated the Scottish, Welsh and Irish historically, our role in slavery.
I believe we have to be committed to healing, and to leading with instruments of peace. Sure we need a strong army, we need a defence force. But we'll do better at getting what we want and need as a nation through collaboration and respect, of course we will.
When government tries to pass legislation giving British service people and undercover operatives more license for criminality and violence, please let your MPs oppose it if that is what they want to do!
2) Commitment to democracy
Keir, I love that we have this system whereby we get to choose our representatives and they compete for our support and we pick them and they make decisions on our behalf in parliament and that's how the laws that shape our nation get formed - it's imperfect and it's really quite awesome! Like, I feel awe that we do this. I feel incredibly protective of it.
When MPs are prevented from voting, be it through whipping or prorogation or whatever, I feel the protective rage of a mama bear. Let the representatives vote. Particularly when the bill in question is dangerous, particularly in, as the FT's legal expert David Allen Green says, "The current period where the executive faces weak parliamentary scrutiny."
We really need you to stand up for peace, democracy and integrity right now Keir.
When you put together the Covert Human Intelligence Bill, the Overseas Operations Bill, the Review of Administrative Law/ the threat to Judicial Review, and the Prorogation of Parliament, you get a picture of a degradation of integrity in the spirit of "we are going to do whatever we want, and we are going to have power over you."
It's chilling.
We need strong opposition.
Please provide it.
Yours sincerely,
Briony Greenhill
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