Polly MacKenzie: It’s time to swap despair about UK politics for positive action

I have been addicted for years now, but it’s time to quit. I’m going to stop despairing about British politics.

I haven’t lost my senses: I can see the Government’s a mess. But asking for it to be better is like asking for the moon on a stick. Instead of despairing about what can’t be fixed, let’s set our minds to fixing what can.

Political change does not have to come with a ministerial signature. Our country is made up of 60 million people who all have the capacity to solve problems. I run a think-tank. My team is simply brimming with ideas about how to make our country better. It’s madness to keep them in a drawer until the politics gets easier. Whatever the change, there is a way. If the front door is locked, we’ll find a back door.

I hear NHS campaigners call for the Government to set up a cross-party commission on NHS funding. Why? There are people in all the major parties who think it is a good idea. So set it up already; stop waiting for someone else to do it. I’ll even host it at Demos if you like.

I hear people demanding Government investment to boost our woeful rate of housebuilding. Yes: investment would help. But our mayors and councils have land, planning powers and access to money if they partner with the private sector. So stop waiting for a Government housing strategy that will never come and get building.

There are endless ways in which we can change our society without involving government at all. You or I can tackle loneliness simply by talking to our neighbours and engaging with our communities — we didn’t need a minister to be appointed.

The #MeToo movement can change our society without a word of legislation. We can reject disposable coffee cups. We can open up about our mental health. We can take the car keys away from a friend who’s had one too many. Individuals’ personal choices are often the pathway to the most profound kinds of change.

Sometimes, of course, new laws are needed. Luckily, there’s a majority in the House of Commons for plenty of sensible reforms — if only that majority were to work across party lines.

Just look what happened when Stella Creasy put her foot down to demand access to abortion for women in Northern Ireland: the law was changed. Over time, I believe we can build a cross-party caucus to take control away from the hard Right and hard Left and bring sense back to Parliament.

Brexit will probably be a disaster for Britain.

Let’s not compound it by giving up on everything else. Despair is for wimps. Quit with me, today.