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We’ve woken up too many times now with this feeling of dread in our stomachs. Brexit in 2016, Trump in 2016, Johnson in 2019 and now Trump once again. 

This cannot continue to be the new normal.

Trump won. His win emboldens the populist right globally, and enables their further rise here.

First Past The Post, free market madness, a rigid two party system and deepening inequalities, they all contributed to the rise of the same far-right extremism that we saw over the summer in the UK.

In Compass’ recent paper, “After The Riots”, we argued that this shift is far deeper than just a few bad apples. It needs a comprehensive response. And it needs to look at culture and structure. Because now, Trump and all his allies are hellbent on crushing democracy.

This is an emergency. Our planet, our political systems, our economies, they cannot withstand more of this.

But we can turn the fear and dread we all feel today into something meaningful, and push towards a different politics.

Compass has already been campaigning for root and branch change of our political system; for a democracy that is deep enough and strong enough to put the needs of the majority and society before a tiny minority who benefit from free market madness.

Our voice has been loud, but it hasn’t been loud enough. We must make it so.

• We have to invest in a good society by building the New Settlement.
• We must make the progressive case for a deeper democracy, starting with PR, to every campaign group and politician we can reach.
• We must organise across political parties and the whole country to build a movement capable of taking on and defeating the far right.
• We should recommit to cultivating a new political culture – one based on alliance-building, deep listening and commitment to participation.

Through the New Settlement, through Win As One, and through our organising, we’re already doing that.

Now is the time to scale those efforts.

Last night’s result shows we must build our power, the power of our ideas, our alliances and our organisation.

In the weeks months and years ahead we will:

• Demonstrate that First Past the Post fuels the rise of the far right and is the friend of those who want an unequal society
• Show the fragility of Labour’s majority and offer alliance-based solutions to make us stronger
• Identify and promote the ideas and policies for a more democratic, equal future – both those that are already out there and fresh, new thinking to help us strengthen for the challenges ahead
• Bring together and work with all progressive politicians who share this vision to help us make it a reality

What happened in America can happen here. Now is the time to act.