England Expects

I while ago my girlfriend sent me a poem by Clare Kirwan entitled 'England Expects'. This poem, to me, is a valuable snapshot of the state of England and I reproduce it here in full. Link to he website.

England expects England expects to wait in line, to be on time, a seat given up for the elderly, a forest of hands at the call for volunteers, a space in the car park and later the car to still be there. England expects changeable weather, a spate of burglaries, postal strikes, council tax, trains delayed, letters of complaint to go unanswered, the quiet loner to be a pedophile nothing to change. England expects to win the lottery, no matter how unlikely, to never see a soldier from another country, to win in the final moment, in injury time, to lose in the final moment, in injury time, to vomit late-night fast food England expects welfare, shelter, food, water, a good range of choices a la carte, quality items at the lowest prices, any fruit or vegetable in every season, someone else to pick up litter. England expects new houses and green spaces to reduce asthma, to drive everywhere, immediate service, fewer refugees a place in heaven – near the front, a clamp down on asylum. England expects everything to be ‘for the best’ them to know what they are doing the right thing to happen – without a battle, without many voices raised despite the quiet apathy of the multitude

[Apologies for the lack of formatting here]

With the new Blogger layout and a resurgence of the desire to blog, expect some more posts on here. YAY.

King Blues, the Politics of Protest and the Homeless in Westminster.

Posted here as an alternative to pissing off a load of King Blues fans on the fan facebook page. Please ignore if you are not aware of the context. Apologies for some of the language.

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Why do I fucking bother, I don't know. But for the sake of those who have any amount of open-mindedness left in these polemic times...


The tories aren't making it illegal to be poor and homeless, just that it is seen that it would be better to encourage the homeless to go to properly arranged locations for soup etc. so that they can take advantage of the support that these offer from social services etc. to actually bring these individuals away from the state they find themselves in... If that is indeed what they want.

I don't actually agree with the changes, BUT I can see the argument (I work within the care sector and see this sort of muddled thinking all the time). But get fed up with the empty and angry points made by you lot. (Condescending politics lesson-->) Politics is about finding the right path to the 'good life' for those people within the state. The 'state' has been agreed within society to now include EVERYONE within that society. There is no _politically_ defined exclusion within society any more (within the major 3 partys). The Torys are not evil, baby eating cunts. They just have alternative views how the world and country and society should be.

I would never say 'Get a job'. But I would say 'Get a Politic'. The politics of protest will only take our country further down the hole of failure that is our current path.

The Politics of Protest are nothing more than a void of anger and ignorance. This is not the sort of culture that could ever create success, prosperity and equality within a country.

Improving outcomes for children in care: ePolitix.com

I work within the Looked After Children's sector. And, if I am being candid (and also quite polite) the whole process of finding these young people a safe and secure place to live out their childhood is a mess.

This isn't new. The link below - a small article by Edward Timpson MP - restates this point, but with some key and quite shocking facts. More needs to be done, but until the whole of local government is reformed and improved I do not expect this to happen.

Improving outcomes for children in care: ePolitix.com

The facts are well known: In the UK, care-leavers are far more likely to end up long-term unemployed, with poorer mental and physical health, on drugs, on the streets, in jail, or as teenage parents than their peers.

A child in care will, on average, achieve a lower level of academic achievement than a child with Special Educational Needs.

Half of all prisoners under the age of 25 were in care, and half of all prostitutes have been in care.

The cost to the state of these scandalous statistics is estimated to be five times more than if a young person had left care with good mental health, stable and strong attachments, and qualifications. The cost to society is in many ways incalculable.

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And no. Bernardo's and other such large 'charities' are not the answer.

PMQs: in which Miliband becomes a statesman and a chamber yawns

"Well, at least Bercow will be happy with the tone of debate."

Ha! I'm so happy for him.

Either way, below is a good TP review of today's Prime Minister's Questions.

PMQs: in which Miliband becomes a statesman and a chamber yawns

Wonderful quote

"You can' t go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise it' s just a cage."

(Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)

The right way: Bretton-woods

The right way: Bretton-woods: "In short the Bretton woods conference enabled the high tax economies of the west by preventing capital from moving elsewhere and thus preventing international capital competition and we are posed with the funding of the same welfare state (enlarged due to increased population and technology) after a economics crash and in a world of free capital."