Ed Lane #FBPE 💙🇺🇦

"Brexit means that what the UK loses on the swings it also loses on the roundabouts. That is, the more the UK diverges from the EU the more expensive Brexit becomes, but the less it diverges from the EU the more pointless Brexit becomes" A must read.👏 chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot…

We need to talk about Labour. Urgently. (This is a long tweet, so please expand it. Thanks.) There's some very serious escalation going on in camp Tory, starting with Sunak's outrage to decency attack 24H ago in the name of fostering a hostile immigration environment that literally breaks international law. Other Tories have also cranked the culture wars dial from 9 to 999. Look how they've fallen behind Farage's pitchforks-and-flaming-torches attack on the entire banking system. It is not happening by accident. This is outrage as strategy, pure rage-farming. This is how it will be from now until the GE. An 24/7 infinite torrent of vitriol and crazy is headed Labour's way. (With a bonus splash or two aimed at anyone who can have the "establishment" label slapped on them.) It will not stop, period. We're in a brand new game now. And our rightwing media will play it right alongside the Tories. So Labour need to position themselves now for after the GE. They need to say all the right things about Brexit, PR etc. now. Do you get it? Really get it? There is nothing - NOTHING - the Tories won't say or do if they think they can gain even the slightest advantage from it. No matter how vile, crass, untrue. And the RW media will be behind them all the way. The idea that Labour will somehow get less of a rough time if they don't give the Tories anything to bite on is absurd. Just ridiculous. If Labour don't change, they'll endure infinite attacks between now and the GE, win it, and then be completely stuck. "But if I don't say or do anything, the bullies might leave me alone" is guaranteed to fail. The Tories and their right-wing media cronies will metaphorically mash their fists to pulp against Labour's face anyway. If they're going to endure a beating anyway - and the worst excesses of past GE campaigns are nothing compared to what the next year or so will bring - then Labour should make it count. Get out in front of the big issues. Erase all their idiotic red lines. Leave themselves maximum room to manoevre once in power. Because there really is something worse than another 5 years of Tory power, stomach-turning though the thought is: a one-and-done Labour government. Five years of ineffectual flailing, and then game over. Do not insert coin. That would open the door to another decade or more of Tory rule. Here's the acid test, if you're still not convinced. Imagine for a moment that the RW didn't exist and the Tories were therefore voiceless. What would Labour say and do about Brexit, PR and other key topics in that situation? When the fear of repercussions was essentially void? Got a firm picture? Good. That's what Labour shoud be doing anyway. Because the RW media don't need any excuse. They are going to make their voices hoarse and wear their typing fingers to the bone attacking Labour anyway. No matter what. And they're always willing to make things about Brexit, even if Labour can't even bring themselves to speak the word aloud. Here's a recent Daily Mail headline from their website: "The career of NatWest's arch-Remainer chairman Sir Howard Davies seems destined to end in ignominy - with his downfall coming at the hands of Brexiteer Nigel Farage in a delicious irony" That's not an exception. The only Brexit benefit is a chance to beat Remainers, or feel that you're beating them. Bullying in broad daylight, with every issue a stick. Two futures: A) Labour change course. They win the GE. Maybe not by as big a margin as the polls predict. But they're in power. And they start to do the really important stuff on Brexit, PR and other pivotal issues. And maybe that wins them the GE-after-next. B) Labour stick to their bright red lines. They win the GE, then flail around achieving nothing. (There's no money and their fiscal discipline means all their other big plans are in the bin.) The Tories sweep back in, and finish the job of dismantling democracy. Could Labour lose? Yes. You could get run over on the next zebra crossing too. But when we talk about the things that are likely, then there's really only those two scenarios. If this thread wasn't enough reading for you already, I've laid things out in even more detail in my Medium piece: "How Labour can avoid a one-term disaster: a Brexit and PR roadmap". (It has a cute Brexit elephant in it too.) Thanks for making it this far. Have a great day. medium.com/@edwinhayward/how…