I am reminded by the campaign of Crispin Flintoff for the NEC how important every Labour member can be. Those of us living in non-target constituencies, often in tiny minorities among myriad Tories, may be forgiven for feeling that our membership and our vote count for nothing, democratically. Crispin's stance for a mass membership emphasises that every subscription counts, especially when Union support is reducing. Each new member brings cash to the Party which it could take considerable efforts to raise in other ways. This is value.
We also need to feel that our opinions matter, though. How this can work is problematic. Reading Al Gore's book "The Future" offers a clue:
"Our first priority should be to restore our ability to communicate clearly and candidly with one another in a broadly accessible forum about the difficult choices we have to make. That means building vibrant and open "public squares" on the Internet for the discussion of the best solutions to emerging challenges and the best strategies for seizing opportunities... and protecting the public forum from dominance by elites and special interests with agendas that are inconsistent with public interest."
This is exemplified by our support for Labour Coast and Country, the embryonic forum for rural and isolated non-urban Labour people. The future lies in people with similar agendas being able, through the Internet, to share their ideas, shape policy recommendations and inform the Party with their expertise.
Tom Serpell
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