[link removed]
[link removed]

Dear John,

When Keir Starmer’s government was elected, many people breathed a sigh of relief. Not because they agreed with every policy, but because it felt like a break.

Finally, they thought, an end to fourteen years of Conservative misrule. A break from the culture wars whipped up to distract from the failure. A chance for a different kind of politics.

But unfortunately, we’re seeing far too much of the same.

Starmer has leaned into the same headline-chasing rhetoric we’ve seen before. Talking tough on “small boats.” Demonising asylum seekers as threats. Using fear to distract from deeper problems.

And in this climate, it’s serving to normalise Nigel Farage and Reform UK. It drags the entire political spectrum further and further to the right.

This week, disgraced former-Reform MP Rupert Lowe saw a boat rowing parallel to the coast. His immediate reaction was to rage-tweet a picture decrying “SMALL BOATS” and saying he was “urgently chasing” them along the coast of Great Yarmouth.

Of course, it wasn’t asylum seekers. It was charity rowers.

It might be funny, if it weren’t such a sad indictment of what British politics has descended to.
[link removed]

Starmer’s approach to this issue isn’t just about policy. It’s a tactic that risks giving more oxygen to the politics of fear while trying to appease the right-wing press.

This approach has never worked – and it won’t now. History shows it tends to amplify the very politics it’s meant to contain.

While this plays out, Farage is free to stoke outrage and division, using that same fear to push his own agenda even further.

All it does is embolden extremists, drag our politics into toxic territory, and leave the root causes of public anger untouched.

Blaming people who’ve fled war and persecution won’t rebuild our NHS. It won’t solve the cost-of-living crisis. And it won’t restore trust in our broken political system.

We need a better way forward, and it starts with fixing our democracy.

In a fair voting system – based on proportional representation – parties wouldn’t win so easily by stoking culture wars or mimicking the far right. They would succeed by offering clear ideas and real solutions, rooted in what people actually want.

Proportional systems reward integrity, distinctiveness and substance – not fear and scapegoating.

That’s what we are fighting for. A modern democracy where every voice is heard, every vote matters, and disinformation doesn’t dominate the debate.

But we can’t do it alone.

Will you chip in £15 today – or whatever you can afford – to help us fight back? Your donation powers campaigns for fair votes, clean money, and honest politics.
SUPPORT OUR WORK ([link removed])

Thank you for standing with us. Together we’ll build a politics that works for everyone.

All the best,

Conor

Conor McKenzie

Digital Engagement Manager, Open Britain
DONATE ([link removed])

View email in browser ([link removed])
Open Britain . Orion House . 14 Barn Hill . Stamford, PE9 2AE . United Kingdom
update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])