Why tribal ties suggests there’ll be no MP exodus

My recent, innocent if ill- judged, attempt to convince Tory commentators Tim Montgomery and Paul Goodman that Labour moderates were not for defecting, reaped quite a harvest of replies on Twitter. It left me thinking about the issue of mutual enmity and respect in British politics, and also why I think the currently speculated prospect of a rash of Labour defections is very unlikely.

Last Sunday evening, I responded to a conversation about Labour MPs jumping ship in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s election. My tweet read:

“You Tories never understand how much we hate you. Many Labour MP’s motivated to get into politics to stop you.”

Unsurprisingly perhaps, this prompted quite a firestorm. The responses came under two broad headings. The first and largest group replying felt that this was childish, brutish, and that we should be able to disagree without making it personal. The second group said that they hated me (and Labour) right back.

Many respondents also sadly reached the conclusion that it was this ‘hatred’ that motivated my or left wing politics.

140 characters is too few to make a nuanced point. But, albeit in a less than subtle way, I was trying to explain the tribal bond that holds together the disparate elements of the Labour Party. I could, on an issue, or even on several issues, agree with a Conservative MPs viewpoint more than that of a Labour colleague without for a minute believing that meant that their values were closer to mine than that of my colleague.

As a child brought up by lefty academics in the 1980s, I have always seen Tory values as being hostile to the ethos of public service and opportunity for all. This never changed despite spending 20 years in the private sector and so being Labour is as much a part of who I am as my blood group or my skin colour. Changing the policies or the leader would never change that. And indeed it was to stand against what I see as Tory or Thatcherite values that I chose to get into politics in the first place.

As the campaign manager of Liz Kendall’s leadership bid, clearly I was of the view that the Labour Party should pick a different direction to the one it chose. And I am acutely aware of the need to be able to persuade people who voted Tory in 2015 to back Labour next time. But my response to the setback moderate politics received would always be that we must get better at making the arguments we made, rather than to become the thing I came into politics to stand against.

I recall a parliamentary reception for new members shortly after the 2010 election at which a new Tory MP revealed his surprise at the strength of feeling of Labour MPs towards Tories saying something like : ”We just think you’re wrong, you actually think we’re evil don’t you?”

The Tory intake of 2010 featured several people who claimed to have been Labour voters in recent years: Rehman Chishti, Dan Poulter, Helen Grant to name three. I am not aware than there are any Labour MPs who formerly voted Tory.

Now the clumsy phraseology I used in my tweet seemed to indicate to some that my ‘hatred’ was not for Tory ideology but specifically for Tory people, indeed some went further and suggested it meant that I hated the full 11.3 Million people that voted Tory in 2015 (that’s a lot of hate).

Clearly, that would be stupid. I have (a few) friends who vote Tory. And don’t hate many people at all. Andy Burnham wore the LGBT Labour t-shirt declaring that he’d never kissed a Tory recently, I am not sure I can claim such political monogamy. But in a time when the two party system is under pressure like never before, I make no apology for the tribal loyalty that says I may agree with you (on some things) but I could never be you.

Indeed if I ceased to be Labour, I’d cease to be in politics at all. There are many other things I could do for a job, and searching for political purity through endlessly switching parties is a hopeless task that will certainly outlast my patience.

Some people who responded clearly felt hurt that there was such lack of respect for their deeply held feelings, which I understand. As I have said above, it was clumsy rather than deliberately hurtful. But in an era when people are attracted by the politics of extremes and disdainful of ‘the establishment’ we should be very careful that mutual respect and understanding of each other’s positions isn’t perceived to be the same as political consensus.

The Scottish referendum (and its aftermath) was one example of the dangers of consensus, and the EU Referendum is a huge alarm bell which could shatter not only many of the certainties on which our economy is based but the career of the Prime Minister too.

So I apologise for any hurt I caused, but not for expressing that I am an anti-Tory to my bones. Of course there are things that I will work with Tory governments to deliver for the good of our country, and there will be moments when party politics must be put on one side.

But I don’t believe that joining Labour in order to stop the Tories is an ignoble motive, nor that knowing that your loyalty to your party is a part of the foundations of our democracy.

Cowards may flinch and traitors sneer, but us moderates will stick with Labour thanks, for now and evermore.

Toby Perkins is the MP for Chesterfield