Three reasons for hope (or why we haven't lost our marbles)

Our director Cat Hobbs explains why Brexit is an opportunity to push for public ownership.

This week, in response to Theresa May's speech, we published our 12 point plan for a publicly owned Brexit. Celebrate and properly fund the NHS, bring water into public ownership, force an outsourcing exit – and so on.

Have we completely lost our marbles?! Didn't we hear what Theresa May said? 

We had a few comments on facebook along these lines:

“I can't believe you can be so naive. These people will NEVER give you what you ask for, however socially desirable it may be.” 

“Not a chance of any of this happening. The UK is on the road to Hell with a megalomaniac at the wheel.” 

Believe me, I understand these feelings! I really do. 

But whether you voted for Brexit or not, it's happening, and right now it's a Brexit for global elites and corporate vultures. We can either bury our heads in the sand or fight for the kind of country we want to live in. Here are three reasons for hope.

1) We've got Leavers and Remainers on side

The number one reason people voted for Brexit was a belief that decisions about the UK should be made in the UK. But what is Theresa May offering us? 'Global Britain' which sounds a lot like code for 'corporate-privatised-tax-haven Britain'. No one voted for that and people won't be happy if that's what Brexit delivers. Public ownership is hugely popular and we've got a hunch is that it's an important part of what was meant by 'taking back control'. We're going to do new polling to find out.

2) We've got some time – and politics is unpredictable

Who predicted Brexit? Or Trump? Theresa May looks strong right now, but she's got a heck of a lot of negotiating to do over the next two years and beyond. It could all unravel. The right wing has a long history of planning ahead and we need to get ready to do the same. Start seeding bold new ideas about the future we want. We'll know we're making progress when unexpected voices start echoing our ideas about public ownership.

3) We've got concrete plans to keep shifting the debate

Thanks to our alliances with academics, campaigners, trade unions, local groups and politicians, we've got some concrete proposals up our sleeves for how to make public ownership happen. For example, here's our advisor Professor David Hall talking about how to bring energy into public ownership. We can see Brexit as an opportunity to put a clear plan on the table. The debate is already shifting. The conversation we're having about public ownership of the railways, for example, is very different than it was 5 or 10 years ago.

So here's our 12 point plan to #OwnBrexit. It's just a beginning and we're going to build on it in the weeks and months ahead https://weownit.org.uk/blog/we-own-brexit-our-12-point-plan-public-ownership

We'd love to know your thoughts on the 12 points. If we start setting the agenda now, we'll be ahead of the game. Watch this space.

With hope, solidarity and marbles.