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Graham Mumby-Croft


John Ramwell
THE RIGHT TO PROTEST

It is Saturday, the 10th August, 2024. Before breakfast.

I have just heard on our news that King Charles has thanked the police for working to control the recent riots: the ones that have kicked off this week as a result of an ignition caused by the terrible incident of the murder of three young girls here in Southport. I say ‘here’ as Southport is only a few miles west of us who live in Westhoughton. That the ‘establishment,’ represented by our Monarch, has rallied round to congratulate the police and themselves for so adequately protecting the peace and controlling the worst of the violence seen during these riots is to be expected, indeed, up to a point, welcomed.

BUT, I’ve been thinking about those who ardently believe they’ve something to protest about. 
They’ll be, in the main, believing it is futile to protest. Whether it’s protesting in legitimate groups in the streets or causing mass inconvenience by stopping motorway traffic. By writing to their MPs, to the press. Whatever their means, they’ll be considering themselves to be largely unheard by the majority. And yet they’re often right in their concerns and campaigns. Whilst most of us are prepared to live in the current times and ‘to hell with tomorrow’ there are a significant number who genuinely believe that we must act and that unless we do, we’re going to be well and truly stuffed. ‘Off to Hell in a handcart’ as the saying goes. I’m referring to the protests about lack of urgency in dealing with global warming, about the state of the nation, about clean rivers, about the refugee situation, about the effects of Brexit and Covid, the Government’s inability to deal with these issues. 

The list goes on and on. The lies perpetrated by certain politicians in the not so recent past has been so culpable that it left many speechless and the rest of us sinking deeper into apathy and complacency. So, I’m asking where does one go to try and change the things we have to face up to. Where do our grandkids go to protest about the unaffordability of housing, of an education system that, like our NHS, is crumbling around our ears. They must wonder about their future. To come from poverty to plenty, or at least sufficiency, is one thing. To see yourself going in the opposite direction is quite another. It must appear to them that the only time anyone appears to be interested in their concerns is during an election campaign. That once in power the politicians simply don’t care.

I do not believe this to be the case. I believe that the majority of politicians and councillors do genuinely care but, once in power, are left with insoluble problems such as funding for social care, for keeping up with the legitimate demands for a living wage for their civil servants, for farmers, for teachers, for nurses and doctors. I heard on our news yesterday that Cornwall County Council are selling off their assets and letting up to a thousand of their workforce go to simply stay financially stable. It’s a difficult time as we live with the real fear of a WW3 breaking out with the use of nuclear ☢️ arms, of a world racked by fires and flooding, by the inequality of the sharing of our resources, of the mishandling -as they see it - of the national economy. My generation may have started from a low base after the last WW but most could see an improving future. We were, in the main, justified in this forecast. This is not the case today.

As I said in a piece wot I recently rote …
“Here’s a thought…it is possible, probably likely, that I could well have been among those ‘thugs’ creating mayhem over these past few days had I been (quite) a few years younger.”

Or I could vote for Donald Trump or even for a return of Boris or Paterson.
 If you can’t beat ‘em . then join ‘em. 

JOHN RAMWELL