The problem with progressive patriotism

Here I stand at the nadir of the Labour Party. A party that is still reeling from the body blow it received last year. The party feels lost, unsure of itself, confused about what it wants to be or who it speaks for. Now is a time of great uncertainty. Any of a number of new Labour Parties could emerge from this period of reflection.

One major cause of the defeat Labour suffered in December was that it was not seen as patriotic enough. This caused many past Labour voters to move over to the flag-waving Tories. This division is cultural and not policy-based. It stems from a feeling that Labour was not proud, but ashamed, of our country. One possible Labour Party that could emerge from this confusion is one that is much more patriotic.

Many prominent Labour figures have ideas about how Labour could be more patriotic. From Rebecca Long Bailey’s progressive patriotism to John Healey saying that “the most successful movements of the left have shown pride in the national flag”.

Alienated by patriotism

Personally, I find patriotism alienating. As I don't follow football (or any sport) and I’m not keen on war, I don't associate the health of the nation with who we’ve beaten recently. I feel that patriotism is meant for someone else, like a pub covered in St George's flags: it's not inherently violent, but it's not very welcoming to me. I have tried to think of a type of patriotism that makes me feel comfortable. Maybe something closer to Brit Pop? Although, a vision of patriotism that celebrates the coolness of the music scene of large cities seems like a distant prospect.

I’m not alone in feeling this. Patriotism makes lots of people really uncomfortable. I’m worried that some voters will be alienated by Labour’s newfound love of the flag. Granted, many of these Labour supporters voted for Jeremy Corbyn and I can see why many leadership candidates are not well disposed to that wing of the party. However, I’m worried Labour is taking these voters for granted.

I also have questions about how progressive patriotism (for the want of a better catch-all term) will work. Gary Young has raised the issue of whether Stormzy fits into this idea of patriotism. Is wearing a Union Jack stab-proof vest patriotic? Are his criticisms of Britain something that the newly patriotic Labour Party wants to engage with or dismiss as something only of interest to middle-class London metropolitans and not of value to real people?

Does progressive patriotism allow space for people to criticise patriotism, like Stormzy does? Will legitimate concerns about patriotism, such as the fact that it can promote a rose-tinted view of our country's colonial history, be heard? Is the British Empire something for progressive patriots to celebrate or criticise? Probably both, but selling that nuance to an electorate with increasingly short attention spans will be difficult.

What is regressive patriotism?

If progressive patriotism sums up everything that is good about patriotism, then what is regressive patriotism? What is bad patriotism? Xenophobic nationalism, obviously I hear you say. The BNP. The EDL. Tommy Robinson. UKIP waving the flag while spreading disinformation about migrants with HIV. All this is clearly bad and the Labour Party must be critical of it, but where is the line? Where does patriotism become regressive patriotism?

Is it regressive patriotism to want to reduce immigration? Is it bad patriotism to be worried about the growing number of Polish shops or Mosques? I would say that it is, to all of the above, but is the Labour Party prepared to make the argument that it's patriotic to want more immigration? Can Labour convince people that it loves the country whilst the country changes into something that many self-described patriots are uncomfortable with (i.e. more multicultural and less white)?

For progressive patriotism to work, our understanding of regressive patriotism needs to be more than just “people waving the flag with Nazi tattoos are bad, everyone else waving the flag is good.” It needs to engage with the fact that some people who say that they don’t like the changes in their communities or feel alienated by London, really mean that they don’t like the number and prominence of black and brown people these days.

Subtle regressive patriotism

Patriotism can be hostile towards people (migrants and people born in Britain alike) without being explicitly racist. When this occurs it’s subtler than an explicit racist using the flag to justify their racism. It could come down to tone of voice or context in which patriotism is being invoked. It could be in the way that “the people” in British people are defined. Regressive patriotism declares that some people are not properly British, without being explicitly racist.

The people who experience this subtler form of regressive patriotism are more likely to not be white, not have a British ancient, and not be a Christian or an atheist. We need to take different people's different experiences of patriotism into account when we state what is and is not progressive patriotism. I'm worried that a person of colour or a migrant’s concerns about patriotism (arriving from how they have experienced patriotism, which is different to how others experience it) might be dismissed as a metropolitan liberals’ aversion to patriotism, or not understanding patriotism, or simply just being “too sensitive.”

The direction of the Labour Party

Labour needs to change to win, that much is clear. Labour can't help the homeless, those struggling on zero-hour contracts or children in poverty unless we start winning. However, I’m worried that progressive patriotism is a sign that Labour is moving away from the values that I want a Labour government to embody. Labour needs to win, but it must not turn its back on opposing xenophobia and social conservatism in order to do it.

If Labour is to embrace patriotism in order to better appeal to the voters it lost, then what other important positions will be dropped if they’re seen as unpatriotic? Being skeptical about getting involved in foreign wars? Tackling inequality? Stopping the environment emergency? How do we patriotically stand up for communities that have been over-policed?

Progressive patronising

Labour also cannot simply just wave the flag to win back the voters it has lost. Progressive patriotism could become progressive patronising, if it isn't a broader cultural change across the party to meet voters in lost constituencies where they are. Being thought of as patriotic involves than just listening to people from small towns or northern constituencies that have abandoned Labour. If Labour wants to be patriotic it needs to do more than say it’s patriotic; it needs to be patriotic in a way that people recognise.

Labour needs to do something to win back the voters that have been lost. Progressive patriotism may be a way to do this, but Labour must not alienate one group of voters in the rush to embrace another. For progressive patriotism to be a success (or any project aimed at making Labour more patriotic) it will need spaced for a nuanced criticism of patriotism that takes into account a wide range of people's experiences of patriotism.