Thinker or grifter — can anyone battle the culture wars for Labour?
Two long-reads on culture warriors this week highlighted the problem Labour faces: it has too many grifters and not enough thinkers.
While much of political Twitter was obsessed with an excellent article in the Atlantic about Boris Johnson, there were two other interesting long-reads about our political weather makers.
The first was an article in Tortoise about Munira Mirza and Dougie Smith, and the other was a light-hearted deep dive into an American Twitter personality Yashar Ali.
The latter, who is well known online for making political weather when it comes to all things “cancelled” or not, was described by one person as a “grifter.”
The former personalities however is much more well known in Westminster.
They are the unspeaking power couple which dominate all thinking amongst most political nerds. Munira has spent decades reflecting on the issue of (what is lazily termed) culture war issues.
Of course, the two articles are unrelated but in many ways highlight the two distinct sections of culture warriors: grifter and thinker. The trouble for Labour is they only have the former and none of the latter.
We can all think of certain columnists and talking-heads who claim to speak for the Labour movement who seem to delight in culture wars. They stir and they ignite discussion on anything from fish and trips to trans equality.
But do not be confused — these are grifters. They are not seriously thinking that cultural issues will ignite a revolutionary political shift, nor are they using cultural identities to conquer electoral groups only to disrupt and divide.
Munira Mirza is totally different. Those of us who are on the Left know all about the interesting political scion she was once associated with. But what that group, and Mirza in particular, recognised was that cultural issues can be used both as a wedge and an enveloper.
Clearly, Mirza has seen that coalitions can be formed around issues which speaks to what it means to be who voters are not just on a policy issue that might establish a clear class or social background.
This is what is happening from Number 10 and this is what is dangerous for Sir Keir as he tries to reestablish a voter base among conservative former Labour voters.
My own view, and clearly that of Sir Keir’s team, is that Labour always loses when it enters into discussions of culture war issues.
It splits the Party and splits the loose electoral coalition of young adults and C2DE voters. It’s fine to think the public are wrong but you don’t have to tell them that.
Nevertheless, Munira and Dougie allegedly are keen to focus on cultural issues when the pandemic is finally over. Should Labour remain silent or get stuck in (a la Blair’s suggestion) is a difficult dilemma — getting down with dogs often leads to getting up with fleas.*
But as the grifter-type form of cultural warrior dies down because a more effective Mirza style cultural warrior emerges, issues will become more serious.
Thus we’ll get more truly identity defining cultural war content promoted and less GMB-content-filling rubbish which is mocked up as “cultural war.”
As an aside, the Times (which is allegedly increasingly ‘plugged in’ to the Government) carried an interesting piece about how culture wars come and go. We are progressive then we are ultra-trad-y as generations change and reject their predecessors.
I agree to some extent.
But cultural issues are like a fire, they burn with oxygen and then die down but they don’t go out. The so-called Metric Martyrs burned brightly then died down only for the Brexit referendum to push that fringe movement back into the light and ultimately decide more than a few votes.
Mirza’s style will clearly focus more on these issues (which Number 10 will provide the oxygen for) and less on issues which flame-and-die on Twitter within a single news cycle.
So, Sir Keir needs answers to the former and can continue to ignore the latter.
The trouble is he’s left with either people who want total silence on all issues in a bid to keep the coalition together, or those on the Left who are simply grifters.
He can, and will, find the answers eventually but he needs to start thinking about it now.
* Interestingly this article from 2007 mentioned ‘culture wars’ which were allegedly on their way to the UK as Blair’s era finished. Blair’s Britain had apparently become too ‘cosmopolitan’ and was not proud of their Queen. Issues which you’ll agree after this week’s news are hardly of the flame-burn-out types and more of the Mirza variety. Who are we, as Brits, not just as voters?
