CONTENTS
PREFACE
Editors’ Note
PROLOGUE
Who Speaks for Freedom?
The Need for Satire
Poetry and Politics
PART ONE - THE OLD ORDER
The Corruption of Politics
New Thinking: A Warning
The Origins of Correctness
The Concept of Human Rights
A Fractious World
The Secular Choice
The Loss of Spirituality
PART TWO - THE SUPERPOWERS
The United States of America
China
Russia
Europe
The British Empire
PART THREE - DOMESTIC POLITICS
Brexit
The Socialist Legacy
The Conservative Response
The Scottish Nationalist Party
The Liberals
PART FOUR - THE LEGISLATURE
Statutes, Laws and Rules
PC Plod
The Lords
Correctness and the Law
PART FIVE - THE SOCIAL SCENE
The Politics of Sex
Transphobics
Home Sweet Home
Comprehensive Education
A University Life
Free Speech
Civil Liberties
The New Ethics
The Legislators
PART SIX - COST OF LIVING
The Credit Bubble
Wealth Creation
Social Security
The NHS
PART SEVEN - POST WAR POLITICS
Defence of the Realm
Military Correctness
Migration and Racism
The Middle East Catastrophe
The European Refugee Crisis
The Ukrainian Redemption
PART EIGHT - THE ART OF LEISURE
Progressive Planning
The New Creativity
The Pursuit of Pleasure
PART NINE - THE RULING CLASS
Socialist Decline
The Glittering Prize
Celebs, Cynics and Bores
Minority Reports
PART TEN A BRITISH CHARTER
The New Enlightenment
A Kingdom United
A Point of Order
The Politics of Revision
PART ELEVEN - THE CHURCH
Is it Too Late?
The Limits of Politics
The Establishment
A Christian Britain
Apostolic Succession
Follow my Leader
Racial Issues
Church Follies
Gender Matters
Clergy Morale
Government by Synod
Apostasy
One Priest’s Confession
The True Church
PART TWELVE - STATE REFORM
The Restoration
The Quest for Freedom
EPILOGUE - THE NATION RENEWED
PROLOGUE
Who Speaks for Freedom?
It is a common feature in modern daily life
To look for easy answers and turn away from strife.
Too often truth is stifled, clear speaking laid aside,
Then fear becomes a virtue and courage is denied.
You cannot solve your problems if plain facts are ignored:
Avoidance is deception and has to be deplored.
Placating fractious people through weakness that relents
Leads on to more disruption and further dark events.
But many commentators proclaim this doubtful mood,
As cowardice takes over, vulgar, loud, and crude.
Yet Truth will always matter, it cannot be displaced
By unwise politicians and judgements made in haste.
The English-speaking peoples are faced with serious threat
Both from their own societies and economic debt;
Their changing populations will soon no longer cope,
Communal life is stressful, and some are losing hope.
Are politicians helpless? Unable now to act?
Or are they simply supine and ignorant of fact?
With politics divided where can you place your trust?
And who will stand for freedom when dreams have turned to dust?
Your parliamentary systems have recently declined
And hard-won reputations are difficult to find.
If politicians fail you and you are left in doubt
The time has now arisen for poets to speak out.
The Need for Satire
There’s bound to be misgiving wherever satire’s used
But logic and fair reason so far have been refused.
Satire, of course, is biting, said sometimes with regret,
For after all you’re human and cannot live with threat.
But what is meant by satire, some may begin to ask,
Is it a mere detraction from people and their task?
Or is it just a comment, so far as one can say,
Upon those dubious actions which hold you in their sway?
No! Satire is invective against each present age
Where wisdom is forsaken, and fashion takes the stage
When stupid thought is rampant and mischief’s on parade,
And there is false conjecture where people are afraid.
True satire has no limits and never seeks consent.
It points to many follies which most could well prevent.
Wherever there’s denial and people fail to act
Satirists should be honest and concentrate on fact.
So, follow that tradition of Dryden, Swift and Pope,
Whose satire and invective contained the springs of hope!
And Juvenal and Horace, and Persius as well,
Who, in ancient circumstance, had many truths to tell.
Such poets were not encumbered by views that are Correct
But put their thoughts in writing, regardless of respect.
They, sifting through those questions which politics would raise,
Ignored disapprobation, or sentiment, or praise.
Poetry and Politics
Amongst your politicians some claim it will not do
For poets to give opinions or offer points of view.
A poet should stick to poetry and not be too concerned
About the next election and who will be returned!
Our poets should be free, they say, from taking sides at all
And never use their talents to read a crystal ball.
Perhaps this is the reason why poets hold back their word
And turn away from politics since they will not be heard?
Prophets, though, have a duty to speak out to the State
And not resort to safety by giving in to fate.
All poets should have the courage to enter the affray
And stand for truth at all times, and not just turn away!
So, you must not be silent or toy with fine designs
To please the armchair critic through smoother sounding lines,
Or be confined to fashion to fill an empty purse
By writing harmless ditties and mediocre verse.
The aim here is to follow where your own pen will lead,
Not bound by dull convention or shallow thinking’s creed.
Your brief ode to politics should aim to stem the flow
Of many long-term blunders by those who stand on show.
Such poetry has a mandate and should not hesitate
To offer quiet reflection and join in the debate.
So, let poetic thoughts be shared! May politics submit
To hear prophetic points of view and some satiric wit!
PART ONE THE OLD ORDER
The Corruption of Politics
Who goes into politics with motives that are pure?
Why are others there at all? One cannot quite be sure.
As it is in private life so with affairs of State:
Decisions made in error are recognised too late.
Perhaps it is ambition that drives them all along.
Could it be false promises that prove their purpose wrong?
In almost every aspect of life within each land
You see their interference but who will make a stand?
The politicians’ problems will increase year on year;
Assuming legislation will bring you greater cheer.
No longer forward looking, with deeply thought-out plans,
Left to Right and back again they live in narrow spans.
They try to build their countries on schemes they can’t afford
And so create a vacuum where troubles will be stored.
The prospects of the people must always be in doubt
When politicians rule them with common sense left out.
Striving to be popular is what the Lord now finds,
Giving weak concessions to single issue minds.
For some it seems quite easy to criticise the best
Then offer vain compassion to those who fail the test!
What is true of Western thought is also true elsewhere:
The poison of Correctness is something you all share.
Presented as a virtue, its spectrum is worldwide,
But there’s a deeper purpose, which many leaders hide.