Well that's put #interreflections on my radar! Will hunt out a screening in the autumn.

Sorry, my longest ever thread -
Ever since a very attractive Young Conservative tried to convert me at a Liberal Party conference in I think 1980, I've loathed the work of Ayn Rand. /1 of 10 https://twitter.com/ZeitgeistFilm/status/1298070238588596224

Bull headed & having got loads of abuse for it at school, I was & still am, a convinced Liberal. The one contemporary at school who gave me no abuse was, @Keir_Starmer. He was a Labour activist in Tandridge, the neighbouring constituency. I'd found my way to the local Liberal /2

Party, having found out just how toxic the local Labour Party was in my constituency. The infighting and hatred expressed towards fellow Labour members was appalling. My passion for history, studying economics + politics, & discussions with my Dad, led me to the realisation /3

that I was a Liberal & not a Socialist.

Whilst we weren't exactly friends or even in the same class, Keir & I were in the same year and shared some lessons. We had a few robust political discussions, with me standing my ground and defending my views. Looking back now, his /4

choice of career should've been obvious to me. I think he very soon realised that we shared many political objectives, but that I was obstinately trying to get there inside a party that appeared to have no hope of getting into power, and therefore wouldn't ever be part of /5

achieving these changes to society.

So why am I writing all this now? Well, I've just been down a horrible rabbit hole, reading the comments on one of Keir's tweets. The Labour infighting & hate for other left-wingers is just as bad as it ever was. /6

I held off joining Labour & voting for Keir to be leader, remembering my earliest experiences of Labour activists. I also held off rejoining the Lib Dems and choosing who to vote for to be leader, although I campaigned for @EdwardJDavey back in the day and feel he was the best /7

choice, between him & @LaylaMoran. I've also seen several people that I follow, tweet that they're going to leave the Lib Dems, because of Ed's victory. In my humble opinion, that's a big mistake.

After being heavily involved in the Liberal party and then the Lib Dems, I let /8

my membership lapse. Life outside of politics got in the way. Time now to re-engage. Being a keyboard warrior isn't nearly enough. After I finish writing this tweet, I'm going to rejoin @LibDems and do my bit to ensure we have a revitalised progressive centre party. /9

Four decades on from our schooldays, I'm still going to obstinately go my own way. But I'll be cheering Keir on. He's definitely the right man in the right job. He'll be an exceptional PM, and not just because he'll be in contrast to the Conservative kleptocrats we have now. /10