A critique of Matthew Goodwin’s Values, Voice and Virtue
This is a densely packed, data rich source for those, like me, who are befuddled by British politics
Reader warning: If you don’t like political debate then click away. If you do and want to comment, please keep it civil.
When the U.K. voted for Brexit in 2016, I called a colleague and asked a question: “Did the U.K. just fail it’s collective IQ test?” The answer was a simple ‘yes.’ Until very recently, that coloured how I thought about those who voted Leave. To me they were stupid racist bastards.
As I’ve thought more about the topic the more confused I’ve become and especially so following the Tory election victory of 2019. How, I thought could so many people have voted for a political party led by a widely known (at least among some people) buffoon likeBoris Johnson?
Matthew Goodwin’s book, titled Values, Voice and Virtue attempts to answer those questions. It’s densely packed, highly repetitive and full of data. To its credit, the book backs all its assertions with data. For reference there are 43 pages of notes attached to 188 pages of data laden prose. To its detriment, the book might leave some more confused because the complexity of what emerges implies a murky picture that’s difficult to untangle.
In essence, Goodwin argues that Brexit was the culmination of a counter revolutionary trend that reflects a deep dissatisfaction among non-graduate working people who felt left behind since 1997 but which traces its roots back 50 years.
In Goodwin’s analysis, the British political class, and especially that of the Left transformed from representing the values, voice and virtues held by the non-graduate, blue collar worker to those of a highly educated, professional and technocratic elite whose interests are reflected by an electorate concentrated in large cities and elite university towns.
Goodwin explains how the Tories successfully navigated the post-Blair period by shifting economically towards traditional Left leaning economics while at the same time, reflecting the aspirations of those who voted to Leave. Goodwin argues this combination, along with promises to ‘level up’ those areas of the country that were left behind by hyper globalisation and the accompanying acceleration of a services, finance centric economy allowed Johnson to attract traditional Labour strongholds. Goodwin says this shapeshifting ability is historically something the Tories have successfully deployed to win votes where Labour has seemed stuck in the past for the last 10-15 years. It was the scale of win that stunned everyone, myself included. For instance, the loss of Dennis Skinner in Bolsover after 49 years to a Tory was simply unimaginable prior to 2019.
My description is an oversimplification but I could see how the data reflects what I’ve seen in my family and those close to our family unit. For instance, Goodwin makes the point that while many voters are disaffected and likely to be swayed by populist approaches, there are plenty of voters who don’t know who they might vote for in what is likely to be a general election in 2024. I include my partner and several of our children in this ‘don’t know’ group. Until very recently, they’ve been life long Labour supporters and, I’d argue, way more passionate about their politics than I have been in over 50 years. Today, they don’t feel they know what Kier Starmer’s Labour stands for while, as Goodwin posits, there is virtually no perceived difference between Labour and Tory politicians.
Outside of the book, Goodwin frequently writes about the consistently high level of ‘don’t know’ voters as representing a long term threat to the established order that he characterises as representative of a politics that is detached from the majority across a wide range of issues. In turn, he sees this as providing the feeding ground for the culture wars fuelled populism that has swept across western democracies from the US to France, Italy, Germany and many other nation states but which has yet to find meaningful political power in the U.K.
Where I struggle with Goodwin’s analysis is the lack of any clear suggestions around how the current instability surfaced by Brexit but underway for many years gets resolved.
This is something I hope that Labour will resolve for itself, assuming it is able to keep hold of its current large polling lead. But right now, it is hard to see how that manifests itself when even Left leaning media like The Guardian reports that central Labour planners are failing to emphasise the examples of excellence and achievement being delivered by some Labour controlled metropolitan boroughs, preferring instead a Westminster world view.
But above that, it is now clear while the dire state of the economy as experienced by all but the wealthiest is a major vote winning (or losing) factor, immigration is the hot potato exercising both Labour and Tory voters’ minds.
Immigration, or rather the levels of virtually uncontrolled immigration that started with Blair’s Labour government and stoked by successive governments of all stripes was one of the defining factors influencing Brexit and post-Brexit political thinking among the disaffected. Goodwin says that his polling strongly implies that Leavers don’t want to stop immigration but that there has been too much and that it needs significantly pulling back. The reasons tap into the book’s themes and especially about what it means to be British. Note - he doesn’t say English - which is how some like to think, often in derisory tones. Here again, the arguments have many shades of grey but the current polarisation, he says, is made worse by the intolerance of those with woke tendencies.
The woke topic that sticks most in my mind is about British imperial history and the insistence by some that us white Brits represent the vestiges of a brutal, inherently racist colonial past to which we’ve never faced up. I had those arguments during my time as an undergraduate in the period 1993-96 and know the extreme degree to which some hold to that view, often, in my view, out of a profound ignorance of other cultures they presume to know.
I look back at British imperialism with mixed feelings. On the one hand I get how, for centuries, Britain raped and pillaged every nation it touched. But equally, I see how those from former colonies welcome the opportunities that Britain affords and how they’ve added a richness to our society well beyond making ‘curry’ our national dish. It speaks volumes that regardless of political persuasion, our current government is led by an Asian heritage person, as are prominent current and recently past leaders in the highest positions of power along with those of African heritage. In my younger years, it would have been inconceivable for a non-white Brit to assume those positions of power. Today, I don’t know anyone who gives a person’s race a second thought when it comes to politics, education, health or community care. Locally, that includes the majority of taxis drivers and takeaway restauranteurs.
I live in what I jokingly refer to as a ‘Heinz 57’ family representing a good few with heritages spread across the Caribbean islands, West Africa and the Asian sub-continent. If anyone wants to see racism at play, check into some of the heated rows between these groups and the toe curling language on display. My own DNA analysis shows that even though I’m English born and bred, I’m as much a mongrel as many other white Brits with a history going back to the Nordics, Ireland and Scotland. And yes - there’s a bit of Neanderthal thrown in, although not very much. I was a tad disappointed to find there’s no Roma background despite being told I was descended from a band of gypsies.
Family history aside, I see a remarkable degree of tolerance and hospitality, especially towards native white Brits, from the large population of Asian Muslims who live on our doorstep. That’s particularly pertinent today as Ramadan gets underway. Muslims use this as a period of reflection but also as a way of demonstrating a commitment to helping those less fortunate than themselves. You see that in the many Asian inspired Facebook posts offering food and clothing. Search for ‘iftar’ and you’ll see what I mean. Can we say the same of ‘native white Brits’ brought up on a diet of privilege?
There is no doubt in my mind that culture is a vital topic that requires an open and informed debate that has to include the disaffected and those who feel our politicians are disconnected from the majority. Like Goodwin, I believe that is the real challenge for any future government if the U.K. is not to become increasingly fractured and drifting away from its very long history of stability, coherence and inclusion.
There is no doubt that women’s issues and those of the LBGQT community need addressing meaningfully. But not to the point where the non-graduate, working man continues to be ignored, as has been the case for too long.
But…who will provide and deliver on the kind of message that resonates across all who occupy these lands as U.K. citizens? Goodwin is silent on this point. Right now I hope it is a future Labour government. When I look at the Tories, I see a bitterly divided party that is spending too much time feeding rage, while making clear that it’s tiny yet outsized influential elites only care about themselves. There is no way I can support that. And neither do any of those I’ve met on the doorsteps of the current local election Labour campaign trail.
My fear is that despite my hopes, Labour will capitulate to a form of politics that does little or nothing for the very people upon whom it thought it could count but who have been cast adrift in favour of a cosmopolitan elite whose values are detached from the mainstream. In that sense, I hope Labour heeds Goodwin’s warnings and develops radical policies that address the urgent need to reunite a nation in which I still have pride - but only just.
As a final note, if nothing else, Goodwin’s book demonstrated the extent to which my initial assessment of the Brexit vote outcome was both simplistic and ignorant of factors that at the time, and as a disinterested ex-pat, I thought irrelevant except in the context of returning to the U.K. as I did at the beginning of 2017 after 20 years away.
Skills, Vocational and Further Education Professional
1s
Matt claims the big issues with this alienation are - hyper-globalisation, immigration and ignoring other's world views. So what are/were the answers - protectionism to save coal mines, textile mills and car plants all of which provided high paying jobs? But weren't a lot of these industrial changes the result of technological innovation and the rise of East Asia as European Empires became economically and politically unsustainable. Singapore has average higher wages than much of the UK. Though economically liberal a majority of its citizens live in social housing and use an excellent public transport system. It has a world class mass education system with outstanding universities - this it credits for much of its prosperity and innovation. It is not a monocultural society. Not at all perfect and many do not agree with its penal code. But it might provide a better explanation of some of the UKs economic and social issues