An open letter to England.

England is enduring a week of uncertainty:

Uncertainty from the attack in Southport;

About how a 17 year old can do something so horrific;

About 'what this means' for 'our country';

About how fragile inter-communal relations appear in this moment;

About what the past has led us to;

About where the future is taking us;

About how we are being led;

About who we are being led by;

About where this led last time;

About where this leads.

This collective uncertainty is part of our shared history, from Cable Street, to the Blitz; from Windrush, to Brexit.

Uncertainty is a condition of humanity - and it comes from distance:

From each other.

From the future.

From the past.

From mistakes.

From success.

From a plan.

From progress.

From failure.

The solution? Get closer:

To each other. The more we know, the less we have to fear.

To the future. The more we prepare, the less exposed we are.

To the past. The more we reflect, the wiser we become.

To mistakes. The more we understand, the less we will repeat.

To success. The more we replicate, the less we suffer.

To a plan. The collective goals of our diverse community.

To progress. Reflect on how far we have come.

To failure. Meditate on the cost of getting it wrong.

These aren't uniquely English, or British issues. They aren't issues of the right, or the left.

These are human issues.

When we have succeeded here before, we have been led by those with confidence in a more certain future.

Churchill.

Washington.

Mandela.

Gandhi.

Mother Theresa.

Golda Meir.

They could not read the future, or predict what was to come. All they did was bring people together around a commitment to a collective better.

In each case, better was wildly different - but in each case, better was tangible.

So what we need is leadership towards a tangible better.

I can see a tangible better.

Opaque. Obfuscated. Fuzzy. Distant. But real. And achievable.

So what can I do to move towards better?

Get closer to those exposed, scared, vulnerable, and weak.

Work harder for a future that benefits the many, not the few.

Pay homage to what went before us and learn what they chose when it mattered.

Embrace mistakes; own them and grow through them.

Crave success; Let it be the North Star for everything we do.

Work on a plan. Work towards having a plan. Stick to the plan.

Celebrate progress. Recognise progress. centimetre by centimetre.

Seek out failure. refine it through the sieve of the plan, the work, the passion for success.

And I highly recommend a China cup, of Indian tea, and a Scottish Shortbread. Very English.