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Matt Turner graduated from The University of Nottingham with a degree in Politics this summer, but he's been politically engaged from a young age. Lobbying MPs to lower the voting age, drop the tuition fee raise and combat discrimination against the young in society, Matt has been active since he was 15. But his enthusiasm for politics had been 'somewhat dampened and limited' in the coalition years prior to 2015. He puts this down to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats "selling out" to the Conservative Party, followed by then-Labour leader Ed Miliband "lacking the spine" to truly stand up to Conservative economic policy.
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Now 22, Matt sees a place for him in politics and he squarely places that inspiration on the shoulders of Jeremy Corbyn. With mental health problems making life difficult for Matt, he now had a reason to fight - "[that] was invaluable to me."
From 2000 followers at the beginning of the leadership campaign that propelled Corbyn to a huge mandate, Matt is now a freelance political analyst and Senior Editor of new media outlet Evolve Politics. He found those initial followers primed for Corbyn's message. They were largely young people, disappointed at the 2015 [General Election] result, and starting to sense that the Corbyn surge was something that could really benefit them.
That was the start of Matt’s growth from one of many disillusioned voices in the Twittersphere, to where he is now – an editor for a political news outlet and about to start a Masters degree in Political Communication.
Matt, for me you are a prime example of how effective DIY Politics can be; you've got quite a following on Twitter. What do you put this down to?
I put this down to a thirst for both a different kind of politics and a different kind of journalism. I wear my political allegiances on my sleeve and I think people respect that – whether they agree with me or not. People on the left know that new, up and coming commentators like myself are always going to fight their corner when spineless mainstream columnists will start to waiver and sit on the fence. People don’t trust the mainstream media anymore, whether it is the BBC or The Guardian. They’ve seen how our broadcasters and media institutions have not given Jeremy Corbyn a fair hearing over the last two years. There have been several academic studies that have proved this. We are the new breed of media who are confronting the culture of power with the power of culture. I’m young, fresh and only just getting started. Expect a lot more from me in the coming years.
With that, you have many followers on social media and there is such an emotive atmosphere in its political scene; do you feel a sense of responsibility when you post?
To an extent, but it’s not something that I ever allow to censor what I’m going to say. If people don’t like it, they don’t have to follow me. I pride myself on being straight-talking, and now DIY commentators like me have got a national audience, I’m aware that we can be very influential collectively. A sense of responsibility definitely comes with that, but I also have a responsibility to keep it real, straight-talking and passionate about left-wing politics – whether people like that or not – otherwise I’d just be another Westminster hack caught up in institutional bias.
You referenced there that you'll say what you feel whether people like it or not. Have you received abuse as a result or attempts to discredit you?
Of course. I get hate mail in my inbox, I get sent abuse, I've had people claiming I’m some kind of Russian agent because I commentate for RT UK once a month - it’s all pathetic. One that always sticks in my mind is a Mail on Sunday commentator, Dan Hodges, roundly mocking me on Twitter for predicting that the election would be far closer than anyone in the mainstream expected. I always like to remind him of that.
Indeed. In fact, you placed a bet on a hung parliament back in April when practically every mainstream news outlet was predicting an increased Tory majority; what made you so sure?
I was confident of this for many different reasons. The Tories wanted an [American] presidential style campaign where they focused on Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn instead of the Conservatives and the Labour Party. What that neglects is that Jeremy Corbyn is a natural campaigner. When he goes out on the streets and talks to people, he comes across as authentic, genuine, and an actual human being. Theresa May, on the other hand, seemed like the polar opposite. She was robotic and couldn’t say anything but the same “strong and stable” soundbite over and over again. It turns out that she was electorally toxic, not Jeremy Corbyn.
May wanted to make this election about Brexit and Brexit only – to try and highlight Labour’s mixed messages on the issue. Instead, Labour managed to switch the focus to issues that - despite the media obsession with Brexit - there is unprecedented anger about: the NHS; tuition fees; the [proposed] dementia tax; and the devastating cuts to emergency services in the wake of terrorist attacks in Manchester and London. Labour were stronger on all of these issues. Corbyn was gaining around 3% points a week, and if that momentum continued throughout the election campaign, like I believed it would, a hung parliament was inevitable. Mainstream commentators ignored this just like they’ve ignored every political shockwave in the last two years – Brexit, Trump, and now Corbyn – their heads are in the sand. They’re still playing by the old rules.
One of my best friends, a Labour voter, studied Social Policy at LSE. He was so sure Tories would win a majority that I offered him a bet that they'd lose it. I bet him his degree. It will now hang on my wall.
What do you think has made DIY Politics on social media so successful in gaining support for the left?
In an age where more and more people get their news on social media, this was inevitable. It’s an incredibly easy way to connect activist networks that wouldn’t have known of each other’s existence ten years ago. It propelled Corbyn to the Labour leadership and it propelled him to a strong performance in the general election as well. If Labour continues to harness social media the way they have over the last two years they will do very well at the next election.
Can you see the right effectively using social media in the same way, organised or not? We've seen recently the likes of MoggMentum and Activate surface.
Not at all; they’re inept, pathetic organisations that have no real idea what they’re doing. The WhatsApp group chat full of Activate members where young Conservatives were talking about “gassing chavs” and “shooting peasants” says it all, really. It’s amateur hour. I applaud them for trying because the Tories really need to make some gains with young voters and those who use social media, but they should really go back to the drawing board. The only thing this Tory youth group has activated is utter hilarity.
I found their Chairman's comments that suggested the Tories were the party that gave everyone a platform to succeed particularly funny.
What’s the end goal for you, what's your ultimate aim?
I want to usurp the influence that the traditional media in Britain have. New, up-and-coming websites like The Canary, Evolve Politics and Skwawkbox are at the vanguard of something new – and continuing to grow in the face of opposition from right-wing media. I’m positive that this is just the beginning for us. Politically, I want to see Jeremy Corbyn in 10 Downing Street – I’ll do anything I can to help achieve that goal.
As I'm doing with @RachaelSwindon and Skwawkbox, I want to get some personal views from you.
The EU Withdrawal Bill was voted for by a 22-seat majority last night. What are your thoughts on this and what it means for the United Kingdom?
I voted to Leave the EU, but I could not fathom voting for the EU Withdrawal Bill. It was essentially a power grab by a weak and feeble Prime Minister. She has no real mandate, so she’s using the Brexit process to try and give the executive more power instead of restoring sovereignty to Parliament. There is nothing democratic about the EU Withdrawal Bill.
In the past few weeks we have seen three hurricanes rip through the Caribbean and end up on the coasts of the U.S. What do you make on Donald Trump's response to this and the news coverage of the devastation caused?
Donald Trump’s response has been pathetic, but I expected nothing less from a joke of a President. He’s too interested in his own agenda to provide any real, genuine or heartfelt response to these terrible hurricanes. There’s an interesting caveat in the news coverage – that it’s largely omitted the damage caused to neighbouring countries. Not only that, but when Cuba sent aid to the USA in response to the hurricanes, some mainstream media outlets still referred to Cuba as “the enemy”. An act of solidarity from Cuba, and again, a pathetic response from the US President and media.
On Monday 11th, Myron Ebell, the head of Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency transition team, appeared on the U.K's Newsnight programme. Scientists, meteorologists and environmental experts have all said the recent hurricanes, in particular Irma, are unprecedented. It's the first category 5 hurricane to hit Cuba in almost 100 years; twinned with Hurricane Jose, it's the first time there has been 2 150mph hurricanes in the Atlantic at the same time; and it was the strongest storm in the Atlantic ever recorded, with 37 hours of 187mph winds. Despite this, Myron Ebell continued, on Newsnight, to label the scientific consensus on climate change as "phoney." Do you think either the U.S. or the U.K. are doing enough on the issue of climate change?
They’re definitely not. Trump is airlifting a load of climate change deniers into the White House in order to appease the GOP and the alt-right – both of which have criticisms of climate change that are intellectually bankrupt and lack any scientific basis.
Theresa May’s attitude to Donald Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement was spineless; when other European countries signed a letter condemning the move, Theresa May refused to criticise her good friend Donald in public. If that tells you anything, it’s that Theresa May is intent on being America’s lapdog for the foreseeable future, post-Brexit.
Lastly, as social media, and ordinary members of the public in turn, exercise their increasing ability to hold the government and MPs to account, do you feel there have been direct results achieved on the back of the public shaming of MPs that occurs on Twitter?
Definitely. There’s nowhere to hide anymore, and that is ultimately a good thing. Information on MPs, their voting records and their beliefs are now widely accessible – especially if they use social media themselves. Taking them to task on social media, in my opinion, has an important part to play in scrutinising our elected representatives. Long may it continue!
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