Would you speak if they came for me?
I may differ in colour to you,
In costume,
I may not dress like you,
Sound like you,
But would you speak for me?
Would you have the courage of a lion,
Courage of your conviction?
Who would speak for you when they come for you,
For one day they will come for you.
I may believe in a different god,
But our belief in justice bind us, you and me.
So if they came,
pistols and rifles loaded to take me away,
Would you speak out,
speak out for me today?

A family can disagree, a family can have members so diverse they may not have much in common on the surface. But they are family nonetheless. Over the past few days, as a lefty, I was dismayed by Ed Balls and his seeming change of stance, whilst not quite embracing cuts, it seemed to surrender to ‘received wisdom’ , stating that he wouldn’t be able to reverse all cuts. So for a couple of days, I wondered how to respond. Then I realised something, something that the defection of Luke Bozier brought home to me. We are a party of all political stripes. Like a family we have our rows, we dont always see eye to eye. But we are a family.

A lot of words have been said today but the wisest came from Kevin Meagher on labour list:

We hold on to our values, willing to stand our ground and state our case. But we also recognise ours is an eternal battle between what we want to do and what we need to do to become a party of power. Finding the right intersection between those two competing demands is what we are currently working out as a party

We are a work in progress no one can deny it, but deep down, no matter their stripe, all labour people have a basic desire for a fairer Britain, a British promise under threat like never before under this Tory government. Think of it this way, many colours can make a masterpiece. Yes we may face choppy seas but if we stick together in common bond, we will chart a course to a brighter future. I’m proud to be part of our diverse family, we may not always agree but we are family!

Family

We may row,
Scream and shout,
Completely disagree about what were about,
But we’re family.
We may be different,
So different we may not see eye to eye,
But deep down there’s a love we can’t deny,
We are family.
We may have our ups and downs,
Smiles and frowns,
But when worst comes to the worst,
We stick together,
For we’re a family.

All in this together,
Hmm, I challenge you to live our life,
Where jobs are a rarer commodity than gold,
Can’t afford the heating so we’ll have to go cold.
Have you eaten today,
For there’s no food in the cupboard kids,
No not today.
Yes this is our life,
Skipping a butty so you can get a bus,
Not a ministerial car, a rickety bus,
Where despondency and despair lie heavy in the air,
You can smell it,
So while you’re wined and dined
Chauffeured on seats of leather,
Remember those on the bread line,
remember we’re all in this together!

Whether Scotland votes for full independence, or whether they opt for greater fiscal powers under ‘Devo max’ remains to be seen, however this raises the question of what lies ahead for England’s political future?

On labour list, Anthony Painter raised the ‘english question’ stating:

What can not get lost in all this is England’s political future. The constitutional and national future of Scotland is for them. England’s civic communities should have the same power of self-determination. A poll published earlier this week for the new charity, British Future, run by former Fabian Society General Secretary, Sunder Katwala, found that 51% of people want an English Parliament. If Scotland goes for further devolution or home rule, this is likely to increase. What’s more, if it does so then the Westminster parliament will be a de facto English Parliament. It is only a matter of time before it will be a case of English MPs for English laws.

He suggests various methods of addressing such a question, such as that in some places, ‘regional government may be suitable. In others it will be city or city-region. For some it will be a county or local level. Clusters of political authority may also come together in, as yet, unimagined ways. Once again, the core principle is self-determination. That is itself could provoke an English democratic revival.’

These are interesting ideas and seem to be rarely discussed. I agree with Anthony, whether Scotland vote for independence or not, the appetite for an answer to this question will increase. Our politicians must be ready to debate this.

Identity

What is my identity,
Not something made clear to me,
Many Flags, symbols are shown to me,
Yet which should appeal to me.
North and south Lions roar as they always have,
Yet where I stand is a mystery.
What is my identity,
Some have louder voices,
Some have greater choices,
Yet many questions remain,
The time has come to answer,
To redefine identity

We made our love on the wasteland,
Gravel, amidst the weeds,
No Garden of Eden, no promised land,
Yet who needs Eden when I’m holding your hand?
No bed of roses deeply red, but our passion will blossom in any old bed.
No romantic candles, yet streetlights flicker,
Knackered bulbs, yet still they smoulder,
As I touch your shoulder, as I kiss your lips,
A light fills me, brighter than any flame.
No Paris for sure,
Windows boarded up, broken,
Yet to you my heart is always open.
May have no job, may not have a dime,
We share pleasure so priceless when your body meets mine.
Ecstasy gets me so high when I take your hand,
No Eden in sight but amongst the streets that night,
Grasping at hope, we made love on the wasteland!

As you all know, I’ve long been the advocate of a relationship between poetry and politics and I hope that one New Years resolution of those who would lead is to embrace the tool that is language and use it to articlaute meaningful sentiment, not just the dry bland soundbytes devoid of real meaning. Its time for blandness to be spiced up and the whole political discourse of this nation also. People need inspiration.

This may be a little premature with us still having a few days left of 2011, I do apologise but this is just something that I was now in the zone to do. What a year this has been- the Arab Spring which has held the world in suspense for much of the year has led to the populations of nations across North Africa and the Middle East rise up against their despotic rulers, resulting in the fall of Ben Ali, Mubarak and most notably Gaddaffi.

By no means has this wave of popular protest been confined to the Arab Spring- in Athens, Rome, and at present the streets of Moscow have seen the people on the streets and our fair nation has also seen more student protests and the strike of public sector worers fighting the government’s unfair settlement on pensions, and who could forget Occupy London, whose camping on the St Pauls raised ethical questions on the Church’s role to combat injustice. TIME magazine announced last week that its person of the year would be ‘THE PROTESTER’ and to me, it symbolises that the movers of 2011, while the may be faceless, their voices have been heard and have in their own way changed the world from Tripoli, Cairo, Moscow and London. Vaclav Havel, the leader of the Velvet Revolution in Prague, was laid to rest this week. Let us hope that next year, many more will find their inner Havel and use their voice as a weapon to fight injustice, oppression and unfairness!

The Protestor (I have a voice)

I’m standing here,

here on the square

Placard in hand,

standing right now right here.

I have a voice,

Silent no longer, first a whisper,

Growing louder into a shout,

Hear me roar!

Faceless, nameless,

By no means aimless,

I have a voice!

You can hear it on the dusty streets of Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli,

In Moscow, in Athens, even in the City,

I have a voice!

Tyrants have and will continue to fall,

No longer to be held in your despotic thrall,

Free will, I’ve made my choice,

Arrest me, with the baton beat me, with rifle shoot me

Captured on youtube and TV screens,

Carved into conscience,

I shall speak out, for I have a voice!

Back to Bethlehem

Riding on the donkey following the star,
Not really caring just how far,
Some way, some how,
I’m going back to Bethlehem,
To be born again.
Avoiding the stress avoiding the strain,
for love the only present I need,
I’m going back to Bethlehem,
To be born again.
Though Caesar’s will remains on my mind,
There’s magic in the air tonight,
Let stars and christmas lights lead the way.
Escape for one night, one day,
I’m going back to Bethlehem,
To be born again.

Light the candle, in defiance to the darkness all around, the candlestick standing proud, re dedicated is the holy ground.
In remembrance, those who stood for what we are,
Against those who deny what we are, Light the candle.
Light the candle,
One day of oil lasts eight, lasts 2000 years,
Yet still the shadows of injustice endure.
In defiance to the dark’s tyranny, shine,
Re-dedicate, illuminate, light the candle

Light the candle,
in defiance to the darkness all around, The candlestick standing proud, re-dedicated is the holy ground.

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