Europe: not just a home, but a vision of society

What does it really mean to be a progressive, pan-European political movement in today's landscape?

What makes Volt genuinely unique, and uniquely exciting, is that it is a political movement which is both progressive and pan-European. No-one else can claim to be each of these things in quite the same way. This is a huge strength – but it also poses a real challenge.

It is clear to me that the “political “ and the “movement” aspects of Volt are central to its identity, and integral to what it aims to achieve. We need both. They can, and must, be mutually reinforcing. But these two words also encapsulate a tension. This is not inherently a bad thing. But if we do not address this tension, and turn it into a positive, it risks creating divisions which are only going to get deeper, and could ultimately pose a real threat to Volt as a whole.

Now is the time to grasp this nettle.

Start with “why”

On one level, the challenge is one of emphasis. A network as broad and diverse as Volt does not need to do exactly the same things in all contexts and in all countries, nor should it. In places where Volt has a real chance of winning seats and being a viable political force, it makes perfect sense to try to win seats, and be a disruptor in the current political landscape. Where this is not the case, it makes a lot more sense to focus on building a groundswell of support – a “movement” on which to base effective political campaigning. So our approach must be nuanced, and informed by the reality on the ground. What’s essential, however, is that we act as one, and that we have a very strong overarching narrative that can hold such a diverse network together. Something very simple and very compelling like Volt UK’s new Manifesto.

This was arrived at through many rounds of strategic discussion, where we did not shy away from the difficult questions. Partly, the Manifesto reflects the reality in the UK, where Volt does not stand a realistic chance of getting political traction any time soon, in a political system which is difficult, and where the risk of splintering the “progressive” voices is a genuine risk. The last thing we’d want to do is help the far right by further fragmenting the progressive vote. At the same time, there is a very vibrant civil society, and lots of organisations calling for similar things as us, including rejoining the EU.

But the Manifesto is also a reflection of who we are at heart, before we even get into the debate about whether we are a party first and a movement second, or vice-versa. If we can’t be clear about why we’re all actually here, how can we expect anyone else to join us, support us, or vote for us?

There’s a reason we’re all members of Volt, as opposed to another “progressive” party. We need to capture this, articulate it, and give people a reason to join us.

That reason is not simply to build a better future, or a better Europe. Of course we want that. Everyone wants a better future and a better society. We can say that we’re going to do it better than anyone else, because we’re genuinely pan-European. …And yes, there is definitely a need for European voices to be heard more, and for our national and European politics to be more inclusive and responsive to what people really need. …And yes, we can and must work together to reform the EU, build a stronger and more integrated Europe, and build the Europe that we need.

But that’s not actually enough. Not in today’s landscape. We must be bolder, if we want to stand out and have impact. Volt is a big, ambitious project: we need to think big, and be in it for the long haul.

We must also avoid sounding like we are simply the mouthpiece of the EU. The EU is very important, of course, and must be our focus for lots of things, but what Europe is, and what Europe means, goes well beyond the EU. For the pro-democracy activists who are putting themselves at grave personal risk in countries like Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine, Europe is synonymous with democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Europe at a crossroads

That is what Europe means to me. That is what the EU is at heart. That is what lies at the heart of the European project from the very beginning, when Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi wrote the Ventotene Manifesto while still imprisoned by the Fascist government during WWII - the most consequential ideological battle in history.

This is why Europe matters. That is why we’re all here, and not somewhere else. The story of Europe is one of democracy, human rights and the fight for a just and peaceful society. This is powerful, inspirational stuff.

Our job is to articulate and get people to buy into this vision. That means selling human rights as the lynchpin of our society. It means selling democracy as something to be cherished, and protected. It means demanding that our leaders uphold and act in respect of these values - whether that’s in relation to foreign policy, asylum and immigration, or far-right populism.

There is a quintessential story to tell here, and we must be the ones to tell it. We must be storytellers as well as campaigners, activists and politicians.

Of course we want to build a better Europe, and of course we must. But to effect political change, today more than ever, we must be a genuinely powerful movement. And to really build a successful movement, we need to inspire people. And to inspire them, we must give them something which they feel is worth fighting for.

And right now, we have a real fight on our hands.

We are facing a concerted, deliberate, and well-coordinated attack on everything that we, and the EU, stands for. From Putin, from Trump, from Musk, Bezos and Thiel. From Farage, Le Pen and all the far-right agitators who are slowly getting thousands and thousands of people to start normalising racism and fascism again. From everyone who doesn’t actually believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

We are no longer in “business as usual” territory. Whether we like it or not, or recognise it or not, we are facing an ideological battle of ideas for the future of humanity, and Europe is in the eye of the storm. This is not hyperbole. It’s real, and it’s happening.

This is massive.

But we are not powerless. We can, and must, make a difference.

Protect, and renew

We have to recognise that we are in a new reality – and we must rally around everything that many of us still take for granted. Volt must play a leading role in defending what we’ve built in Europe throughout the centuries, through the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and two World Wars on home soil, through the Geneva Conventions, through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and through the EU. ….Because if we don’t, who will?

And if no-one does, the very fabric of our societies as values-based democracies founded on the principles of human rights and the rule of law will be at risk.

The time is now. The people is us.

There are specific ways in which this challenge manifests itself, and specific things we can do about it. One of the really key aspects is the role of big tech in pushing an authoritarian agenda on our societies – which is why I’m delighted to have played a key role in organising this must-watch panel discussion on Thursday 4 June, organised in partnership between Volt Europa and UK non-profit The Citizens.

This is something that speaks to our fundamental values, to the society we want to live in and to everything Volt stands for, and there is much that the EU / Europe can and is already doing in this space. There is also much that each of us can do at the grassroots level, such as this campaign against Palantir in the English health service or this one against Chat GPT., among many others.

You can’t have political success without a strong base. But being a movement is about much more than that. It’s about recognising what it is that we are fighting for, and standing up for it – and at the same time, renewing it, and reimagining it, so it is even stronger than before.

In the next post, I will explore what this can look like in practice for Volt in more detail.

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