For those who didnt know, today is National poetry day! As a poet, i feel privileged to have a day associated with me, so here is my offering today! Its a bit of a dark one, yet I will let it speak for itself! Happy poetry day people!
Being watched
Do you ever feel you’re being watched,
Followed by a silent spirit,
Hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention,
You can almost feel its breath.
You frantically turn around to find nothing,
Nothing, the street empty,
Devoid of life, devoid of sound,
This essence both benign and malign,
It seems to control you like a spider in its web,
Irrational, illogical, yet you still feel its breath,
After the last few days of revelations coming from the tory camp, most notably the child benefit proposed reforms that have caused waves of derision from all quarters, one burning question has plagued me, WHERE IS THE VOICE OF OUR NEW LEADER, ED MILIBAND?
This is a question also posed by the New Statesman blog,
For a newly-elected leader of the opposition, this was surely a great opportunity to get stuck into the counter-arguments and start as strongly as you mean to go on. Add to this the fact that Ed Miliband has long been an advocate of maintaining universal benefits as far as possible. In September 2009, when interviewed by the BBC in his role as Labour’s manifesto co-ordinator, he emphasised the importance of a mix of universal and targeted welfare, saying:
“Lots of families need the support that child benefit provides, not just the poorest.”
A year on, on The Andrew Marr Show a few weeks ago, he said he didn’t support reopening the issue of universal benefits, saying that means testing has “real problems”, going on to say:
“I’m all for speaking hard truths. I don’t personally think undermining the universal welfare state is the right thing to do.”
Why, then, has Ed been so conspicuously absent from the debate since Osborne’s speech yesterday?
Yvette Cooper, the shadow work and pensions secretary, is the only Labour figure who has seemed to have commented publically on the issue with most of the major papers featuring the following quote:
“The Government’s unfair attack on child benefit is now unravelling. The Chancellor only announced means testing this morning, and already the Children’s Minister has admitted that the thresholds need to be looked at again. They have clearly been taken aback by the reaction of parents across the country.”
So where is our leader in all of this? It has been suggested on the New Statemans blog that Labour are choosing to “stand back and let the Tories face the not inconsiderable opposition from their own party, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and others, before weighing in with their own defence of universal benefits, and universal child benefit in particular.” But as the blog points out it has been over 24 hours since Osborne’s announcement, and “Ed’s silence is starting to seem less strategic, and more hesitant.”
This is a big opportunity to show his mettle as an opposition leader in his function OPPOSING the government. Many bloggers like myself, Andrew Gwynne MP and others have voiced their opposition yet I find Ed’s silence disheartening and frustrating as it seems he is missing his chance to join the debate.
Ed, if you are reading this, this is your chance to show the government what you’re made of. Don’t let this pass you by! At the hustings, you spoke about Labour having to do hard work in the years ahead to get back into power. We need you to lead us in this, what is an army without a general, a crew of a ship withouts its captain. LEAD US!
Lead us
Where is your voice,
All I hear are a few whispers,
scattered amidst the vast silence,
Where are your grand speeches,
Where is your opposition,
Your declaration of optimism in this dark time.
The war has begun, yet where is the attack,
What is an army, without its general,
What is a ship without its captain,
Without a captain to guide its crew thorugh the storm,
I for one was appauled by the almost bullying tactics of certain media outlets towards Gordon Brown during the election campaign. Today, he gave a speech in Africa and I was pleased to see him active again. here is my tribute in poetry to our former (should be current!!) PM!
Dear Gordon
Dear Gordon, theres so much I wish to say,
Your determination is admirable,
Growth was your gift,
Passion your creed,
A warrior prepared to fight for justice,
Despite the cowardly attacks,
Despite the ridicule, despie the pain.
You were a genuine voice amongst the snakes,
The double act who conned a nation,
Deception, their gift.
Most of all, I wish you the best,
May you find the appreciation denied when your were at the top,
May you find vindication, may you find peace.
