Now we’re in lockdown, the only place to get involved with politics is online – and that’s dangerous

Labour has a new leader and a chance to turn the page on the divisiveness of the last five years. But under these extraordinary national circumstances, will that be possible?

There will be no chance for Keir Starmer to meet his party’s members face to face; no nationwide tour where he can bring them all together in a wave of excitement and anticipation of the new. All interaction between the incoming leader and his prospective voters will be online.

The Labour debate rages online with the kind of vitriol that admittedly does have some echoes face to face (I’ve attended some spectacularly unpleasant meetings). But more often people are emboldened online to say things they simply would not say in real life. The tone of the political debate hosted on Twitter, in particular, is grotesque.

Say something complimentary or respectful about a figure you don’t normally agree with, politically, and you are denounced as a traitor. Say something nuanced about party unity and you’re a turncoat. Agree with something another faction has done, then you take personal responsibility not only the policy you agree with, but with the worst elements of that faction. You’re a Blairite warmonger, or you’re a racist trot.

Online, party members highlight their differences. In person, we are more likely to focus on the things we have in common. Even in my local Labour branch, which has been riven with splits, meetings would cover topics on which we could all agree to campaign together. We stood side by side in the freezing cold handing out leaflets in protest at rising fares; we worked together to put on film nights; we submitted motions passed unanimously on social housing provision.

For now, while we’re in lockdown, those days are gone. There won’t be any Labour Party meetings, which for many will feel like a blessing. But if all of our dialogue with each other is conducted online, will we forget the things we have in common even with those whom we oppose?

How to unite a party that can’t meet will be one of the first challenges for Starmer. Central to that will have to be thinking about how Labour, as a party – collectively and individually – behaves online.

When online is all there is, it becomes more important than ever to find new and better ways to disagree. If this will be the only way for everyone to get involved in agenda setting for the new leadership, then everyone needs to engage in a comradely fashion. If they don’t, only the loudest voices will feel comfortable taking part. We already know how unrepresentative, both of the general membership and more importantly of the general public, those voices are.

If “unity” remains Starmer’s watchword, how is he going to demonstrate that in the places where bile and viciousness reap rewards and loyalty? Dealing with abuse and poor behaviour on Twitter and Facebook may feel like a secondary matter with all that we face beyond our front doorsteps right now.

But the crisis we are in has forced us all online. For the sake of the wellbeing both of the nation and of the Labour Party, its new leader will have to think quickly about what that means for the ongoing health of our politics.