Report from the Uniting Devon’s Communities Conference

Our conference, Uniting Devon's Communities was held on Saturday 21st February at Exeter Community Centre. The purpose of the event was to bring together progressives from across Devon to assert our liberal values and commitment to building a good society based on fairness, tolerance, inclusion and a celebration of  our diversity within a multicultural society.

Our aim is to strengthen the gains we have made over the last few decades and fight back against the rising tide of intolerance and hate represented by far-right organisations and their ideology of division.  

In the morning session we had a Question & Answer session with panel members comprised of Neal Lawson, CEO of Compass, Chris Wood from Exeter Community Alliance, Anthea Simmons from Common Ground and Andy Gibson, Exeter Stand Up To Racism.

In the afternoon we had a series of practical workshops on:

Having difficult conversations delivered by Exeter Community Alliance, an introduction to the Common Ground process (a practical, positive and rewarding way to fight back against the far right), a Community Assembly examining our priorities for a free and democratic future and Hikmat Devon’s work supporting minority ethnic communities.

Below, North Devon Compass member, Dave Sharratt, reports on some of the highlights of the day.

Neal thanked everyone for really energising day hearing so many voices which were genuinely very uplifting.

I will more or less quote Neal’s entire speech which I feel is more authentic. I have popped in the odd word or two to exemplify and clarify. Passion can be lost in translation.

“We need brutal honesty and we can’t paper-over the cracks by pretending otherwise. We have leaders who aren’t good enough and those leading us don’t do it from a sense of generosity, love and respect. Shame on them, and we will show them there is a better way. Chris Wood’s session, on having difficult conversations, was brilliant. We all learned a lot from that. I extend that to all the four sessions held this afternoon. Meeting and talking to you who represent people from across Devon has been absolutely fantastic; there so many reasons to be positive in politics.

“Someone just told me that the Britain First march in Manchester was completely outnumbered by progressive demonstrators who didn’t allow their march to get anywhere. People are not going to put up with this! Getting people out in demonstrations, putting your body on the line, as Andy Gibson pointed out in his session, is so important. This was exemplified by the recent Exeter demonstrations where the far-right was far outnumbered by Stand up to Racism counter demonstrators.

I am proud to be a member of the Labour Party, the membership has completely changed its view on PR with now 70-75% in favour of it. This is a dramatic shift in the culture, nature and beliefs in the party. The Trade Unions are of the same mind, and there is only a tiny clique at the top of the Labour Party who are completely opposed to it . However, the weight of support and mood for change will have its impact. We will keep the pressure up on the leadership. I am always reminded of the guards on the Berlin Wall who were in total control as if there forever, training their guns on people. The same in apartheid SA, nothing changes… and then everything change! It’s a bit like a pitch invasion, everyone starts moving together and then we become unstoppable.

“This is the moment where we are in now, the old world is dead and the new world is being born by us in this room, in the meetings and discussions we have had today. The ripples we are seeing now with Zack Polanski leading the Greens in a very different way. In addition, the way the people in Caerphilly came together last year to voted tactically to beat Reform. I really hope that in the Gorton and Denton by-election, whoever the victor is, we will see a progressive voice elected who will speak for this constituency. It will send out a message that progressive people, who are organised and united can prevail to beat the right and far-right.

“I am blessed to be engaged with so many political and campaigning organisations such as Friends of the Earth, Tax Justice netwok, Greenpeace and the Equality Ttrust. I notice two things, firstly I see a much greater sense of movement generosity. People are much more willing to work across silos, building-up an ecosystem that talks to each other and works with each other. That is really important and it’s an abiding aspect of the cultural zeitgeist of the moment I am now seeing.

“Secondly, I am seeing, whether you focus is on the environment, equality, tax justice, civil rights and more, we can’t achieve any of our collective goals without good democratic and economic systems that can enable the aspirations and potential of these progressive groups. For example we cannot get tax justice without democratic justice.

“We are not going to get anywhere while the media is owned by a few oligarchs and platformed billionaires!

“I can feel this thing building-up all the time, that’s why events like this here in Exeter are so important. We need to use this kind of connectivity, to build ideas and to push a systems change to unlock the potential of people and realise the good society we all want, need and deserve.”

Two final very quick quotes:

“Lenin said ‘the victory of ideas requires organising’… it certainly does”.

“Whether, it’s through Compass or getting organised in other ways: by attending a march to protect our environment; Standing up to Racism and attending the ‘We are Together March’ on the 28th March in London, which Andy Gibson promoted; setting up and attending a community assembly; setting up a street stall as Anthea Simmons described in our town and villages to elicit views and commonalities of the public and be prepared for difficult conversations to challenge misinformation and racism”.

“My favourite quote of all time is from Raymond Williams: ‘To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing’”.

“That is what being here today is about, it helps me to push for more. What we do when we come together to talk, listen, to think and create, to make hope possible. The inspiring stuff from Chris Wood’s Exeter Community Alliance, the excellent work by Anthea Simmons of Common Ground... and what happened with the Devon primary all inspiring stuff helping to create that pitch invasion moment”

“Today is a step in doing that! All power to Howard, Sarah and the Devon Compass team”.

“Our moment is coming, the old world is dying, and we are the new world, with that democratic caring, loving, respectful hopeful kind of politics”.

“I hope you enjoyed today and I hope you carry this in your hearts until the next injection of energy hope and purpose. Let’s keep going… because we have to …because people are relying on us. We progressives have a much better idea of what a good society and good life is. Let’s keep working with it and it’s been fantastic working with you today”.

Our thanks to Neil Lawson for his inspiring and empowering speech and his outstanding engagement with all of those who attended this highly successful conference.

Thanks also to our other key note speakers: Anthea Simmons, Andy Gibson and Chris Wood who contributed greatly to this brilliant event.

View some video clips from our morning panel contributors HERE>

I will quote quite a lot from the ‘Common Ground’ website in this piece.

“Common Ground’ is a street campaign seeking to counter disinformation, hate and division one conversation at a time.

“The billionaires and their media are using hate and fear to divide communities and win power. We believe there’s more that unites than divides us and we’re having the conversations that prove it. ‘

“It’s great to see the late Jo Cox’s MP’s maiden speech key message being followed through with such respect, vigour and commitment. She was tragically murdered by a far-right fanatic in June 2016 while serving her constituents.

“Common Ground ‘believe it’s time to stand up to hatred and division. They are out on the streets every week, listening and talking to people’”.

It was very engaging to hear of Anthea’s experiences when interacting with others at street stalls. She enthusiastically explained the very practical Democracy Meter tool, using coloured stickers( everyone likes a sticker) which she developed and employed in the Devon for Europe campaign against Brexit. We have used this excellent tool to great effect in Northern Devon and we feel ready to go in adapting the to Democracy Meter format which will help initiate conversations, to seek commonalities and identify areas of difference that can be explored and resolved.

Anthea stated that they find that apathy and disillusionment in politics is real, and that most people:

• are hungry for a healthier democracy;

• want to be able to talk politics without the shouting;

• want to be heard;

• feel that moderate, kind voices are being ignored;

• are happy to find that others share their views.

Andrea said sometimes you just have to ‘agree to disagree’. However, she has had experiences where those who have disagreed with her on the thorny issue of immigration have returned in gratitude, after 20 minutes or so, to thank her for pointing out the myths which are out there, after checking the facts themselves. Then in one instance, returning again to thank her for the important work she was doing, with an appreciative cup of coffee for her! That’s a result. Clearly people can be persuaded to change their views and appreciate the opportunity to discuss political issues.

The commonalities also reveal that most people are instinctively progressive yet some are lured to vote for or support Reform which is demonstrably regressive.

What she and colleagues have found is that the shared values of kindness and compassion are the common ground, so there really is more that unites us than divides us.

To restate, these things can be gently elicited in the conversation. It’s the best way to affect change and steer people away from Reform. Calling people ‘stupid’ or other derogatory terms for supporting Reform, is counterproductive.

On the practicalities of using the Democracy Meter Andrea advised the following:

• Street stalls need 3 people

• Do not set up in front of shops.

• Use a public area.

• Timing is key and it’s best to stage stalls from 11-12:30pm to maximise footfall.

• You need a supply of sticky spot sheets

• A flip chart board and a table for leaflets.

The photo above shows the flip chart of hand written questions which can be read out to visitors of the stall.

She has also approached schools to offer politics classes her interactive approach and found that successful. With voting age dropping to 16 it’s vital that young people feel enfranchised and empowered to vote and to register. Apathy can quickly be reversed if you ask young people who claim they have no interest in politics a simple question: “so you don’t want to have a say in your future?”. The response is usually that they certainly do!

In earlier discussions Andrea stressed the importance of not being tribal and have our precious little fiefdoms determined by party HQ and not the grassroots. This was clearly a barrier in collaboration over developing the Primaries model. Progressives need to work together to make “good trouble… that’s what we need!”.

She added a very poignant quote for all of us to be mindful of: “Fascism doesn’t need your support, just your silence”.

I would see the Democracy Meter street stalls as a priority action for Compass in Devon that could be rolled-out in towns across the county, over the Spring and Summer, which could pave the way for Community assemblies or Primaries which served a constituency in South Devon well in selecting the best progressive candidate to challenge the incumbent Conservative MP before the last general election.

Thank you so much Andrea for giving your time to lead and facilitate this highly effective interactive workshop. It certainly helps to identify the common ground and to gently challenge the differences, usually immigration  which are invariably founded on myths and misinformation.

Visit Common Ground HERE>