No 184: When your grandchildren ask what you did, will your answer make them proud?

In the UK we have special legislation (the Fixed Term Parliament Act) which stipulates that there should only be an election once every 5 years. The fact that on Dec 12^th 2019 we will have our third election in 4 years demonstrates just how staggeringly successful this piece of legislation has been. This coming election will be  the most important UK general election for a generation. Hanging on the outcome is not just the UK’s relationship with Europe, but whether the UK stays as a ‘united’ kingdom. Depending on how the votes land there is a very credible series of events that could unfold which would lead to the end of the England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland union.

For overseas readers unfamiliar with the UK political parties, there are two main parties: the Conservatives (often called the Tories) on the right, and Labour on the left. There are a handful of smaller parties, the biggest of which is the Liberal Democrats, who fill the centre ground and are unapologetically pro-Europe (I am a proud Liberal Democrat).

If the parties were processes on a sewage treatment works then the Tories would be the de-ragging and grit removal chambers at the head of the works: excellent in theory, and when they work they can be brilliant. However they just can’t be trusted to do what they claim. In my 28 years working in the wastewater sector I am yet to see a headworks working as it was designed.  An unnervingly large amount of clumpy shxt always manages to seep through.

Labour on the other hand are like a secondary treatment process (think Activated Sludge). Big, bold, mechanical, able to treat pretty much anything that might come down the pipe. However they have a tendency to be inflexible,  and are eye-wateringly expensive to operate. (I resisted the urge to refer to lots of hot air).

Finally there are the Lib Dems. They are the primary settlement tanks, nestling neatly between the Tory screens and the Labouresque nutrient removal. They quietly, robustly, reliably do their job removing the bulk of the solids from the wastewater. They arguably provide the most important stage in the whole treatment process, yet attract almost no attention whatsoever. Overlooked and under-appreciated. The LibDems currently have about 15% of the popular vote, yet just 3% of the seats in House of Commons (20 out of 650). The last Liberal Prime Minster was David Lloyd George.  In 1922.

The defining policy for the Lib Dems in 2019 is to ‘cancel Brexit’. It is a bold, high risk stance and will either alienate or resonate with voters. I am proudly European and am thankful for the freedoms that being part of the EU has brought me over the years. The European Union clearly isn’t perfect, but it has given us 50 years of strong trading relationships, travel freedoms and multi-country environmental controls. It was my grandparents generation who voted for our entry into Europe in the 1970s and I am extremely grateful to them for their foresight. I worry that my grandchildren will look back at the 2019 election and be disappointed.   

Being a fully paid up Lib Dem I did my duty last weekend and posted 300 leaflets in my neighbourhood. It was a gloriously cathartic exercise, with two notable events. The first was when I met a man vigorously cleaning his car. I didn’t recognise him at first, but it turned out he was someone I have spent the last 15 years sharing a swimming lane each Saturday morning. I didn’t recognise him with his clothes on. My second encounter was with a lady in her 30s who, upon taking the Lib Dem leaflet from my hand said, with a definite flirtatious smile, ‘Better than the Tories…but not as good as Labour’. We chatted for a few minutes and she wished me good luck. Both of the above exchanges were surprisingly cordial, despite our differing political views. I came away thinking (perhaps naively) that if all sides could adopt an open mind and a big smile (and could visualise at least half of their opponents naked) then we could probably find a workable solution.

As it happens I will not be in the UK on Dec 12^th. I am trusting that my wife, who does not share the same political allegiances as myself, will deploy my proxy vote carefully. I will be in Madrid, co-chairing the EU Water Innovation Conference (https://www.eip-water.eu/eu-water-innovation-conference-2019-0). As of last Friday there are 850 people registered to attend (tickets are free…). Rather splendidly for a LibDemer like myself, the conference will celebrate all that is great about EU: the collaboration, the policy making, the leveraging of learning, and the innovation breakthroughs.

Unfortunately the conference ends too late for me to make it back to the UK that evening. I will therefore be watching the election results alone in my hotel room. I am realistic about the results.  I doubt the Lib Dems will sweep gloriously into power, but I hope we will make some gains and perhaps be a tempering voice on whoever does. We have more in common that binds us than we do which divides us. However, as noted by the exchanges with my neighbours, even our differences can be rather fun to unpick.