Robin Hood 2012

After a week dominated by cutting the top rate of tax and the infamous ‘granny tax’ here is my late but considered response to the budget that deviated from ‘we’re all in it together.’

Robin Hood 2012

Here comes Robin Hood,
riding through glen,
swapping hood for golden crown,
giving to the rich by robbing the poor,
in a world upside down.
Looking after No 10 and number 1.
He’s not looking after number 2 or 3,
Neither you or me.
Placing a heavier burden on weaker shoulders,
Not being for the many but tax cuts for friends,
We’re far from merry men,
hear comes the latter day Robin Hood,
riding through the glen.

Stand- with power should come responsibility!

Ed- 'powerful must take responsibility'

Today, whilst the hacking scandal resulted in more resignations, Ed Miliband stated in a speech that the ‘powerful must take responsibility’ in order for such an outrage such as this abuse of trust to never happen again. I have been really impressed by Ed’s tenaciousness on this issue and the fact that throughout, it has been HE who has led the discourse on this, such as calling for the inquiry and today calling for the recalling of Parliament on wednesday to debate. In contrast, Cameron has been on the backfoot, tainted by his associations with Coulson and News International and many have speculated as to whether his judgement and his very position should be reviewed. Where this will end and what happens next is anyone’s guess, however I hope that in the future, MP’s will stand up and challenge anyone or any business who has done wrong in the national interests. Power should come with responsibility and I dedicate this poem from my future collection in the hope that no person should ever be regarded as untouchable by our Members of Parliament ever again.

Stand (MP)

You who speak for us,

You whose purpose is to stand up for us,

I emplore you to stand!

Against the toxins of corruption that plague the land,

I urge you to stand!

Bring honour to your name,

Bring the guilty to book,

The mighty humbled in shame,

I beg you to stand!

Stay faithful to the sound of our voice,

Escape the shackles of fear.

The line is drawn right now, here,

Now is the time to make your choice,

For me, for us,

STAND!

Challenging the myth- this scapegoat speaks out!

A year passes,

It seems an eternity since love in the garden,

Since the selling of souls, the bitter kiss,

A year passes,

Still the spout their lies,

A toxin, like a cobra they inject,

Relentlessly with the megaphone, the printing press their message they infect.

A sickness, this myth takes hold like a fever,

Infecting the mind, all but the ardent believer.

Sick of being the scapegoat are we,

Put down the knife, the ills of the world cannot be laid at thee.

Expose your lies, speak out with passion shall we! 

This poem a reaction to the article on labourlist http://www.labourlist.org/strangling-the-lie , by Emily Thornberry MP, in which she states that “we need to challenge their lie so that we can confidently assert that there is an alternative to slashing public spending. And that the alternative is us.” Wise fiery words and ones I agree with and as part of my REVOLUTION OF THE MIND, I welcome any challenges to the hegomonic narrative that all too often is fed to us. The cuts of this incompetent government as we all know are ideologically driven and thus the blame can no longer be placed soley at our door. With great power comes great responsiblity Cameron! This scapegoat will take the blame no longer!

Libya- no fly zone guardian angels

Last night, a UN resolution was passed allowing for a no fly-zone in Libya. Today, I and other members of labour recieved an eloquent email from Douglas Alexander which sums up Labour’s policy and how it mirrors Cameron’s resolve to protect civilian lives:

I wanted to write to you at the earliest opportunity to let you know Labour’s position as Ed Miliband set out in the House of Commons this morning.

Any decision to commit British armed forces is a grave and serious one and must be based on a clear and compelling case.

In this instance it is based on the clear evidence of Colonel Gaddafi brutalising his own people in response to their demand for democratic change.

It is action backed in the region, most importantly in the clear resolution of the Arab League. And it is backed now by a legal mandate from the United Nations.

The resolution aims to prevent the slaughter of the people of Benghazi. 

It authorises force to protect the civilian population in Libya and establish a no-fly zone, while at the same time making clear there is no mandate and no appetite for a “foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory”.

Of course the responsibility for this crisis rests squarely with the Gaddafi Regime, but by this Resolution the United Nations has now placed a responsibility on its members to act to protect the Libyan people.

Next week, the House of Commons will vote on the deployment of British military force as our contribution to this international effort.

Labour will support that decision by the Government. No one – not Ed Miliband, Jim Murphy, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, myself as Shadow Foreign Secretary, or the Shadow Cabinet – takes this decision lightly.  

We have been ready to criticise the Government when they have been slow off the mark evacuating British nationals from Libya and I have asked tough questions of the Foreign Secretary about the unsuccessful mission to contact opposition forces in Benghazi.

But on the question of military action, Labour has been clear from the outset that all options should be on the table, given the record of the Gaddafi regime.

And today, Ed Miliband said in a debate in the House of Commons “it would be quite wrong given what is happening in Libya for us to stand by and do nothing”.

Already, today the Gaddafi regime have suggested they will implement an immediate ceasefire, but this regime must be judged on its deeds and not simply its words.

Tomorrow in Paris leaders from Europe and across the Arab world will discuss the way ahead in light of the Security Council Resolution.

The situation remains fluid. I will endeavour to provide more information to Labour members who I know will have deep concerns not only for the people of Libya, but for our own armed forces personnel and the future of the wider region.  If you would like to read the UN Security Council Resolution, it is available here. 

As Ed said in the Commons, in the days ahead, as befits the Official Opposition, we will support this mission to protect civilian lives, while asking the questions of the Government that the British public would expect us to, and making clear our support for the Armed Forces in the difficult days ahead.

Yours sincerely,

 

Douglas Alexander MP

 

As you all know, for a while I have supported a no-fly zone to stop the attacks on the protestors in Libya and as such though in my opinion a bit late, I support this as a way forward. No one in their right mind wishes for war, and as Douglas says “Any decision to commit British armed forces is a grave and serious one and must be based on a clear and compelling case.” However we have a clear aim and international obligation to protect those who desire and deserve freedom from tyranny!

 

With heavy heart again we engage ourselves,

To ride the the rescue,

In the skies over Cyrenaica we shall watch over them

Like guardian angels for those oppressed,

Those who want freedom from the tyrants fist,

We shall watch over them.

Though we didnt want to raise the sword,

For freedoms sake we shall watch over them.

Alas freedom is never free,

My brothers and sisters of Benghazi you who have suffered to be free,

Hang on we shall watch over thee!

Happy new year to one and all!

The last day of what has been a momentous year. The political landscape of Britain has changed, I for one got involved in the fray and I met quite a lot of good friends along the way. To all of you and you don’t need naming, I heartily thank you and I love you all. Today, in his New Year message, David Cameron attempts to rebut the charge that the government’s spending cuts are ideologically driven, stating that:

I didn’t come into politics to make cuts. Neither did Nick Clegg. But in the end politics is about national interest, not personal political agendas. We’re tackling the deficit because we have to – not out of some ideological zeal. This is a government led by people with a practical desire to sort out this country’s problems, not by ideology.

As one of my twitter friends stated, he should be on the new years honours list for acting. What a load of rubbish. For instance, someone wrtiing on the New Statesman site states that the cuts inflicted will be permanent, citing an occassion when Cameron was asked by a Fire Brigade worker last summer if funding would be restored once the deficit has been addressed, Cameron replied:

The direct answer to your question, should we cut things now and go back later and try and restore them later, [is] I think we should be trying to avoid that approach.

The article uses this to say that “the Prime Minister’s insistence that we should try to “avoid that approach” reveals an ideological attachment to the small state and to low levels of public spending. The result will be permanently shrunken public services.” For many who will be blighted by job losses, losses in benefit and other services such as EMA, this new year will seem very bleak and make no mistake, these cuts that ‘are done at a peace of ideological zeal’ will affect all of us. For all of us, the deceipt of Clegg and cameron will not be a memory we can put in a box labeled last year.  In Ed’s message yesterday, he gave an indication that there is hope, another way. We all need to, and quickly in my eyes, chart a course of what we oppose (specifics) and how we will go about opposing. We need to produce a new years revolution (I coined that) in how we think and our approaches, to give hope to those under threat. Come on Ed, your speeches are gold, but we also need action! Lets bring a message of hope and action in these dark days ahead, and make sure we can bring some happiness into this new year!

Janus

Janus guards the gateway,

Two faced, fork tongued,

Lies disguising the truth,

He stands guarding the doorway to a darker future,

Future where the light of hope extinguished,

Aspiration robbed, too high was its price,

We pass through with hope in our hearts,

As there is another path, another way,

He knows it, the dark night will be followed by the day,

We will oppose him, be the light in the drakness,

Love for our common brothers will keep us warm,

We march, you forget Janus, two faced one,

The doors are open to let in the new year,

We march for a fairer way, without fear!