WHAT WOULD YOU STAND UP FOR?
These accidental activists show that some things are worth fighting for
You will know it when you find it. The burning issue that shakes you out of your comfortable life and makes it impossible for you to look away. It’s never easy to step up against forces greater than yourself but, as these accidental activists show, some things are worth fighting for...
‘YOU CAN LEARN TO BE BRAVE’ GINA MILLER became a public figure when she took the British government to court to challenge its authority to implement Brexit without approval from Parliament – and won.
Most people know me as an anti-brexit campaigner, but I’ve been fighting injustice for 30 years, since my eldest daughter was born severely disabled. My first battle was getting her statemented for special needs. I was a lioness, protecting my cub.
When I took the Government to court after the EU referendum in June 2016, it wasn’t about Brexit, but the future of our democracy. They were trying to bypass Parliament and invoke Article 50 themselves, so my case was to make sure they couldn’t do that. If the Government had won, it would have set a precedent for any future Prime Minister to make changes to our rights – workers’ rights, maternity rights – by using executive power.
Perhaps naively, I thought if I stepped up, others would join me. Two high-profile men said they would join the case, but when I became the target of vicious verbal attacks, they dropped out. It became clear if I didn’t do it then nobody else would, but I didn’t envisage such a lonely, difficult battle.
I’m not an anti-brexit campaigner, I’m a transparency campaigner. It started with my daughter and I’ve campaigned on modern slavery, poverty, and the Rochdale sex scandal. After the financial crisis, I took on The City to stop rip-offs in pensions investing. I also set up the True and Fair Foundation, to help small, sometimes unstable, charities become sustainable. When choosing causes, I start with those where I have knowledge and experience, as well as physical and emotional proximity to the cause. Solutions come from ‘prismatic’ thinking – considering every angle.
Friends and family understand why I do what I do. My husband says I’m a mental and physical
fidget. Five years ago, we were at an airport when I saw an exhausted mother with a baby and two toddlers. She flew off the handle at one of the children. My heart broke for her – I was sure she wasn’t a bad mother; she just couldn’t cope. I asked if I could help and she swore at me, but I leant forward and gave her a hug. She melted. I walked back to my husband and he said, ‘One day, someone is going to punch you in the face!’ Probably true, but it won’t stop me.
My activism is always for ordinary people being harmed by those who should know better and I have picked battles where I ruffle feathers. I never knew I was so powerful. I’m still being abused, often racially, as much as I ever was. Some people seem to think Brexit isn’t going well because of me and I’ve become a conduit for their hatred, responsible for a lot of things I have nothing to do with.
One evening, I was on my way to the cinema with two of my children when a man shouted, ‘It’s the Brexit bitch and her monkeys’. I was horrified.
But I am pragmatic. Crying over spilt milk doesn’t work. Now, we have to ensure we get the best Brexit deal by being creative and working cross-party. Sadly, that’s not what’s happening and we’re running out of time. There’s been shambolic thinking, disorganisation and disagreement within the political parties. The shame of it all is that the referendum should never have happened – they tear up families and destroy communities. I think what should happen next is a clean, three-option vote between whatever deal the Government come back with, no deal and remaining. My greatest concern now is healing the hatred caused by Brexit.
Having the courage to act is partly nature, but you can learn to be brave. Like eating chocolate cake, you do it slice by slice, starting with something small, like helping your neighbour, or speaking to someone you know who is being treated badly. Eventually, activism becomes part of who you are. Rise by Gina Miller (Canongate) is out on 30 August