Election Thursday 1

So, the elections have been formally announced and in four weeks time we vote. Are you interested in the upcoming elections? Do you see yourself as political? Looking through my quote book I've stored quite a few about, not necessarily politics, but about nations, democracy, how we get along in society and what society means. So for the next four Thursdays the quotes will be slightly different. This first one is where good oratory feeds into poetry and sometimes prose. If the message doesn't agree with you I hope you like the rhythm.

If Margaret Thatcher is re-elected Prime Minister, I warn you...

I warn you that you will have pain – when heating and relief depend on payment.

I warn you that you will have ignorance – when talents are untended and wits wasted, when learning is a privilege and not a right.

I warn you that you will have poverty – when pensions slip and benefits are whittled away by a government that won't pay in an economy that can't pay.

I warn you that you will be cold – when fuel charges are used as a tax system that the rich don't notice and the poor cannot afford.

I warn you not to go into the streets alone after dark or into the streets in large crowds of protest in the light...

If Margaret Thatcher wins

I warn you not to be ordinary

I warn you not to be young

I warn you not to fall ill

I warn you not to get old.

Neil Kinnock Election Speech Bridgend 1983