How 9/11 Made Me A Lib Dem...

Matt blogged about why he joined the Lib Dems and became politicised. Its well worth a read over at, yes, you guessed it, Freedom Central.

Because I'm highly unoriginal, I thought I'd steal his idea and do my own!

So, why did I join the Lib Dems? Some people who know of me, but don't know me, would dismiss my activism by saying I only joined the party because my parents were members. Okay, that's a line of inquiry that would be interesting to alternative history writers. Would I have ever listened to Lib Dem policies had it not been for my parents? I'm not sure at all.

I remember that until I was about twelve or thirteen, Focus-folding was a chore. Whenever Dad asked me to help him fold leaflets or stuff envelopes, I'd groan, kick around the hose and stomp. I literally hated it. I'd grumpily stuff letter after letter after letter, silently vowing that when I was old enough, I'd vote Tory, just to get back at my Dad for making me miss the last twenty minutes of the pilot episode of New Tricks.

I have been thinking about this for a long time. When did it change? When did those pieces of paper cease to become something to do in a grump? I think the change started on, corny as it sounds, the 11th September, 2001. That would make me...thirteen. At that age, I just couldn't understand it at all. I came in and looked at the screen, hearing the screams of those caught in the atrocity, seeing the strange horror of an entire city - no, an entire world - held gripped. And then the questions came. Or rather, one single question: WHY?

I think that was my political awakening. Because then I started to read about the Middle East. I started to read about our actions over there. I started to read about the injustices of some countries (including ours). I stopped ignoring a strange glossy magazine in the study and suddenly the words meant something, as I read avidly the New Statesman (back in the days when it was truculently objectionable towards Labour). After that, in a desperate desire to seek answers to questions which, in all honesty, sometimes have no clear answer, I started to pay attention to the news in a way I never really had previously.

All of a sudden, the news stopped being just meaningless garble. I started to listen. And then to doubt. And then to form my own opinions. Which leads us to my year ten English Language GCSE course, where we were asked to write a speech. Caught up in my youthful political awakening, I decided to write a speech opposing the war in Iraq.

I remember in those days being a young teenager, and one of a minority (although a significant one) opposing the war. I could probably still find that speech I wrote if I wanted to, because the anger it still fuels in me will last forever. In that speech, I pictured two September 11ths, 2005. In one, Iraq still suffered its human rights abuses, but international pressure was building to deal with it. In the other, the country lay devastated, and terrorism spread in a place where, previously, there was no terrorism.

I suppose my writing that speech completed my awakening. And it's not going to sound pretty, but I suppose it was arrogance that finally made me join the Lib Dems. I remember thinking, "If I can see the coming problems with this decision, why can't the Government?" And I think it is an important point to consider... that if you are ever absolutely convinced you can do a better job than the Government, at whatever age, you have truly woken up to politics.

Let me continue, though, to another moment. The vote in Parliament on the invasion of Iraq. Up to this point you see, I was not a member of the party. I was interested, and a supporter (and because Dad would ask me to, I suppose I was a clerical helper). But not a member. The one thing Dad has always done is given us the choice of whether or not to join the Party (quite right, for a liberal, I hear you think!).

Anyway. I remember watching, with baited breath and my hands clasped together, as I (literally) prayed for those MPs voting on the invasion to do the right thing. I don't think I can ever adequately describe that moment. There was a sense of history, but also a sense that something fundamental to my beliefs would rest on this day. I would discover on that day, what sort of country we had, and what sort of leaders we had. I was absolutely crushed. Again, I don't think I could properly describe that jaw-dropping moment when I realised we were led by morally vacuous fools who were controlled utterly by the Party whips. I don't think I could ever feel the same rage, the same sense of powerelessness, the same sense of futility. And yes, the sudden sense of deep loss. I think even at that young age I felt that our country had just destroyed any hope of a changed millenium. There were so many thoughts going around in my head. I remember my parents were in the room with me.

It was at that moment that I remember turning to my Dad, and saying, "I think I want to join the Lib Dems."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, my indoctrination has been almost absolute. And that's probably dangerous. Because to me, there is no half-heartedness allowed. I want a Liberal Democrat government. The Tories and Labour have both abjectly failed this country. On that one day, and on many, many, many others. It is why I am also hard to please. I always want our leaders to be more radical, more fierce... to tap into the real anger there is out there about politicians.

I will say this however, about our party. In this organisation I have met some of the most caring and intelligent people I have ever known. I know there are caring people in other parties. Mostly, those who voted against the war in Iraq. Yes, I do draw that rather clear and possibly unfair distinction. I am afraid that I see anyone who voted for that war as an epic failure of a human being, someone who would, despite all the doubts that were obvious even to a thirteen year old... commit the soldiers of their nation to a war.

This party has shown me that the best ways to move our country out of the quagmire, is to try new solutions. And these are solutions that are sometimes not popular. Declassification of cannabis? Unpopular, but you bet it will reduce crime considerably. Decent education for prisoners? Unpopular, but you bet it will reduce re-offending. I could go on. But I won't, because there are also many, many, many, many popular and effective policies our party has.

We just need to get people to listen.

And I agree 100% with Matt Smith over at Freedom Central, that there is everything to play for. It just means we all need to remember why we joined this Party, what makes us great.. and we all need to believe... to believe with such absolute fervour that we have the answers.

We are the answer to the UK. It needs us to believe that completely, and to hammer that truth out repeatedly. When we do that, the country will go with us.