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Maff Potts, member of the Ordinary Hope core group and Founder and Director of the Association of Camerados, discusses the divisions stoked by culture wars and elections, and Camerados' new campaign on how to disagree well and still enjoy each other's company.

It may be historically ignorant of me to say this but I genuinely feel that 2024 is the most divisive year in my lifetime鈥�and perhaps we can do something about it. That鈥檚 half a century. I want to convince you that this is a moment in history we all need to respond to and that it doesn鈥檛 take a lot to do so. In fact, maybe you need to direct your anger towards a Jaffa Cake. Stay with me here.听

I鈥檓 old enough to remember Yosser saying 鈥済izza job鈥� while Thatcher鈥檚 city boys declared they had 鈥渓oadsamoney鈥�. I remember the Battle of Orgreave and all those communities divided into scabs and strikers. Then there was 9/11 and Iraq. But this feels different, more widespread and relentless.

I鈥檓 not the only one who thinks it either. showed that 51% of Britons think this is the most divisive time they have lived through听(the poll kinda proves听the point itself!) and that poll was taken before two wars听ripped through our side of the world.

We all know the list by now: a rising cost of living for most of us whilst the richer get exponentially richer; the ongoing effects of post-pandemic trauma mostly going unacknowledged; the lasting enmity in the UK over Brexit; potent culture wars on gender, race etc; increasingly desperate protests about climate change and those brutal wars in Europe and the Middle East. I鈥檝e left out a hundred other minor conflicts this year but let鈥檚 just say that even Eurovision was divisive, so much so that Switzerland won!

And that鈥檚 not the biggest story of division. Did you know that 2024 is the biggest year in history for elections?听

. Over half the world. You may call that a great year for democracy but in the realm of modern political campaigning we all know this means a year of endless screaming at each other about fundamental things we disagree on with political parties most likely doubling down on polarised views to turn out their side of the vote.

Yes, elections, they certainly don鈥檛 help bring us together. The starting gun has fired on our own in the UK and from the last time we went to the polls in a general election which showed that when people were asked to rate different groups on a 鈥渇eeling thermometer鈥�, supporters of the two main parties rate each other almost equally negatively: Labour supporters gave Conservatives a 15 out of 100, while Conservatives gave Labour supporters an 18. The same report showed that people also felt more than twice as strongly about their position on Brexit (55%) than their political party (22%) with positions just as strong among remainers as leavers and - a big surprise to me - the strength of feeling in their Brexit position increased as time went on.

The prevailing narrative becomes one of strong feelings against each other. Division sells. It gets your candidate noticed. And there鈥檚 no greater master of that in modern times than Donald J Trump. With his triumph over Hilary Clinton, he inspired a political generation to surpass their rival鈥檚 superior 鈥渕edia buy鈥� by generating free publicity using controversial and polarising positions.on elections not long after Trump won in 2016 found that 鈥�US senators spend more time on divisive issues when they are up for 鈥�(and)鈥�US house members spend more time on divisive issues in response to higher news transparency."

Ah yes. The cameras are watching鈥�or at least the camera phones. And they are showing a lot of angry faces. But are most people taking part in the shouting and the division? I鈥檓 not so sure. by the Electoral Commission last year, the number one problem facing democracy was 鈥渂ias in 5 the media鈥� (72%) while the second was 鈥渓ow voter turnout鈥� (66%). That tells me that perhaps the media is playing a role in stoking the fires of division here but it also shows that perhaps it鈥檚 turning people off.

At least three mornings a week before I go to work I have a cuppa with my retired next door neighbour, Tim, and we play a game of 鈥済uess the composer鈥� with a different vinyl treat from his collection - Tim thinks my beloved jazz sounds like the death of a thousand cats but we found common ground in classical recordings. Politically too, he sits on the opposite of the political divide from me and we often joke about the different posters in the windows of our adjoining terraced houses come election time. This year though he says he鈥檚 not voting in the election at all because he鈥檚 鈥渉ad enough of the whole lot of them鈥�. Principle among his despair is the constant hate and division they spout. Tim doesn鈥檛 like stress in his life, he鈥檚 got cancer to worry about. He鈥檇 like to hear a voice of healing and hope, or as Marc Stears calls it 鈥�Ordinary Hope鈥�.

I鈥檝e been working with Marc and a brilliant group of folk at 香港六合彩中特网 Policy lab on this idea of 鈥淥rdinary Hope鈥� and in the main it centres a world where we focus on practical everyday progress rather than grand sweeping and polarising rhetoric; we put the emphasis on collaboration not division, and build things brick by brick through positive relationships. A relational way of working as a priority not an afterthought. Corny maybe, naive possibly, but this is what voices from across the political spectrum are telling Marc and his lab is the stuff that works.

Which brings me to biscuits. Our movement - Camerados, the public living room people - are running a campaign and you might want to get involved, it鈥檚 called .We ask you to find someone you disagree with and see who鈥檚 biscuit falls into their brew first. That鈥檚 it. Sit with them, play a game of biscuit dunking. Choose your preferred biscuit - we hear Hob Nobs are strong contenders while Rich Tea might let you down (don鈥檛 they always?!). It鈥檚 not about finding agreement听and you don鈥檛 talk about the things which you disagree, you听might dunk off whilst debating music genres or daft pastimes. The idea is to spend time together without screaming and听shouting and just seeing each other a human not a debating听point.听

This picture is the MP for Argyll & Bute sitting听with Colin, who cannot听stand his MP and almost听left before he arrived.听After their 鈥淒unk Off鈥� they听apparently left laughing听together, having disagreed听about fish on pizza.

听

I don鈥檛 imagine this would instantly resolve vast global tensions but it鈥檚 an important start. When you look into any stories of seemingly intractable division - Northern Ireland for instance - you find that the great leaps forward towards peace all came down to a relationship, a connection, between two people - Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley in that instance - people who saw the human in the other.听 You can try to systemise听solutions to hate and conflict, you can try to develop social听policy or 鈥渢heories of change鈥� but when it comes down to it听this takes people to decide to put the kettle on.

So find someone you disagree with and do it today. All you听Bourbon fundamentalists must go spend time with Custard听Cream insurgents! Make your own start on combatting听division in 2024.听Let鈥檚 get ready to crumble!

Maff Potts is Founder and Director of the Association of Camerados.听For resources go to .

Read more about 香港六合彩中特网's Disagreeing Well campaign here.

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