0:00
You were on the campaign trail during the local elections last year, uncovering some remarkable sectarian and, I suppose, very curious political campaigning in Lancashire, as I recall
0:12
This has been an issue for the Labour Party for a long time, not just last night in Gorton and Denton, hasn't it
0:18
Yes, you're completely right, Charlie. It's been an issue for years now. And we saw sort of small breakouts throughout the last decade or two decades, I should say
0:28
You look at Lutfer Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets. Look at George Galloway
0:32
He's won many by-elections, really stirring up this sort of language before
0:37
And now we're seeing it in Gorton and Denton. And I was on the campaign trail at Gorton and Denton
0:41
and when I left, I could not believe the sheer number of activists
0:45
that were representing the Green Party compared to even Reform, who have a very motivated base, and, of course, Labour, who held the seat
0:53
But, yes, this is a real remarkable and quite worrying trend to come in sectarian politics, that what we saw in this vote is that the Greens were the main party
1:02
that represented of course a vote on identity lines And I think that why we saw your party and of course George Galloway Workers Party stand aside And even though they were frustrated at the start they threw their whole weight behind the Greens towards the end saying if you really want to kick Labour in the face
1:21
if you really want to kick the establishment, vote for the Green Party
1:24
And I think we're going to see more of this, not just at by-elections such as Gorson and Denton
1:29
but also at local elections in May. This idea of sectarian or community voting
1:34
does really threaten the whole idea of our democracy. if parties are campaigning along identity lines rather than competing in the space of political ideas
1:43
then what does that mean for democracy? But there surely are things that we could do to restore some integrity to our voting system
1:50
perhaps to crack down on postal voting, to look at this idea of family voting
1:54
Do you think the government could make some meaningful reforms that would actually help the situation
1:59
Yeah, I think that MPs now across the political spectrum have told me that they really need to crack down on postal voting
2:06
but it's also as well, it's not just the Labour, but it's also the previous Conservative government
2:10
that really needs to make more of an argument against sectarian voting
2:13
I think we saw in that clip with Keir Starmer that he was very keen to talk about reform
2:18
as an extremist party, but he didn't also talk about potentially extremists
2:22
on the left and those encouraging to vote on identity lines and religious lines And I think this is a real problem And a Tory a former Tory MP told me this today They said of course something like the Chagos Islands bill is you know
2:34
it's a disaster and I'm glad we're putting energy into it. But why can't my colleagues put 5% of their energy that they're doing for that
2:41
in something like voting on identity lines, which is so important. And as you said, really threatens a democracy as we know it
2:48
Well, it's a good question, isn't it, Tom? Why haven't the Conservatives pushed more on this
2:52
Perhaps because they've been caught out playing this game themselves. In the 2024 general election, several Conservatives signed a Hindu manifesto
3:01
It was central to their victory in a number of seats. The truth is, all parties, all major parties, play this game in different ways
3:08
It's just now that the Green Party and, indeed, those independent candidates
3:13
are doing it even more overtly with that Urdu language video we've just been playing out on our screens
3:20
For those listening at home, that includes them showing footage of home office detention
3:25
and deportation methods as a reason to vote against Labour. Tommy, you also included footage of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
3:35
What your take on some of this sort of foreign issue campaigning we seeing in foreign languages I mean if I was to look at it cynically I would say that a lot of parties are those not necessarily in the market for ideas but they just in the markets for pure votes
3:50
And if they can see an opening of how to win an election, a lot of parties will just go
3:54
and do it. And I felt that the Green Party in this instance, where they printed leaflets in Urdu, people
3:59
on the ground said that it was actually a lot of Muslim voters there didn't necessarily understand early, but they were kind of shown that it was almost a sort of act to show the Muslim
4:09
community that they were talking their language, not just literally, but also metaphorically. And I
4:14
feel that we're going to see more of this trend now, this sort of identity politics, where you
4:20
show voters that you care for them by kind of giving them token gestures. And it has worked in
4:26
the past, as we said, that MPs had signed the Hindu manifesto, not just Labour, but Tory MPs as well
4:31
with George Galloway as well, of course, really courting the Muslim community
4:36
So I guess that if there are votes to be won and there is no kind of real political philosophy championing against this
4:43
then I feel that this is just going to be a trend that is going to continue for the years ahead
4:48
Very interesting. Tom Scotson, thank you so much for joining us this morning
4:52
That's Tom Scotson, political reporter at Politics Home
