In all our sanctuaries we sit at risk

Category: Democracy

  • Re-uniting the United Kingdom

    Posted:

    My partner has begun to dread the subject of Cameron. Cameron fills our heads and house far too often. What if, after all, Cameron retains power this Thursday, or sometime thereafter ? Another five years of this, she wonders ? But what if Cameron doesn’t ? What then ? Where will all this anxiety and…

  • What does “hard-working people” mean ?

    Posted:

    There is clearly merit to be earned by any politician who uses the term “hard-working people.” It seems to be this group of people the politicians of all parties want on their side, this group they want to seem to stand for and to be talking to and to please. Perhaps the word has gone…

  • Is there a place for honour in this House ?

    Posted:

    So the UK’s Coalition Government of the last five years is now behind us and we are in the process of choosing its replacement. A frantic election campaign has begun, and in fact began ages back, much of it conducted at the lowest possible level by people trained in hitting low. There is a mix…

  • Rule by Rude Boy ?

    Posted:

    What has been the effect upon UK citizens of the behaviour we have witnessed during the past few days, as negotiations over the planned televised debates between our political leaders appear to have reached their climax ? For me, the way Cameron/his Party/his hooligan Press have conducted themselves has been utterly astonishing. Obviously the Tory…

  • Truth or Lie – which to vote for in May ?

    Posted:

    For me, one of the best news items in recent days has been Peter Oborne’s resignation from The Telegraph on a point of principle. I hadn’t even heard his name before, but suddenly here he is, more prominent and sharply focused than almost anything else in the parade of parrot heads and slogans we are…

  • I and Thou and Charlie

    Posted:

    In the early 1990’s, I wrote a series of poems called “I hyphen Thou”. The poems explored the image of the hyphen and were suggested by a book by the philosopher/theologian Martin Buber called “I and Thou.” The idea of the hyphen is an old favourite of mine. In fact I run a small charity…

  • Let the bird of paradise speak loud from his cage

    Posted:

    I want to recite to camera a long poem, originally by John Skelton. And I want to do so from the top of the Tyndale Monument, a tall tower on a hill near Bristol.  William Tyndale and Skelton both lived in the reign of Henry VIIIth but they have more than that in common. The…

  • The Scottish Referendum : odd thoughts

    Posted:

    The campaign has not just energised Scots and many more – it will surely have embittered many, too. How will Scotland fare once the decision is made and the “sides” stand back from the barricades, the losers looking at the winners in the eye ? Will they help each other put the barricades away ?…