For the people by Tony Walsh, aka Longfella

I was asked to write a poem on behalf of public services And I’m proud to be allowed to and I want to get the hurt in this

And I want to get some truth in here and to get behind the mysteries

And to think about the future here from lessons in our histories

And I want some recognition of my colleagues who have served And to show the demolition of what this country still deserves

And I want to ask the nation, see the real cause of the trouble

Not to fight us but unite with us, our struggle is your struggle

And so this… is for the people:

And so this is for the people who are shouting at tv With “It’s good to hear that somebody is speaking up for me!”

And so this is for the people who are crying over bills And the water rates can drown them and the gas bill gives them chills

And so this is for the people who are turning off the heating

For the voiceless and the choiceless cos it’s either that or eating

And so this is for the people who are looking at the banks Asking “How come they’re still motoring, when we’ve got empty tanks?”

And so this is for the people who are feeling like a victim In the fall out from the bailout of a failed financial system And so this is for the people who’re denied by student loans Those who scrimp and save but still can’t raise enough for decent homes

And so this is for the people who are frightened in their pelts

But you’re tightening your nooses while we’re tightening our belts

And so this is for the children as the future of our nation So let’s talk of value not of cost and fund their education

And so this is for the people who have seen their gateways closed

When the local vocal folk who spoke were choked until they froze

And so this is for the people for whom libraries saved their lives

Shouting “throw the book at those who look to cut us with their knives”

And so this is for the people who know lives are saved by culture

But have seen the arts all torn apart by Philisitines and vultures

And so this is for the people who are being demonised Being scapegoats just to scrape votes for these peddlers of lies

And so this is for the people who are learning that the truth

Is “decimation, decimation, decimation” is your message to our youth

And so this is for the people who stood up for our conditions

Through the centuries of injustice and the Tory opposition And so this is for the people and their strikes to get us welfare

Win equality and dignity, win us pensions and our health care

And so this is for the people who fought hard until they died

Against the poverty and indignity of working people’s lives And so this is for the people who campaigned for women’s rights

For contraception, votes and childcare, equal pay and all those fights

And so this is for the people who remember in our bones How we fought against injustice and the right to decent homes

And so this is for the people who are turning in their graves

At the assaults on their advances for a dignified old age And they think we don’t remember this! They think that we’ve forgotten! And swap centuries of progress for their fast race to the bottom

And so this is for the people who give years of dedication In the thankless tasks and all they ask is modest compensation

And so this is for the people in our cities and our towns In our shires and in the valleys, in our glens and hills and downs

For the vital public services, the needs in our communities Those providers who provide us with so many opportunities And so this is for the carers who work the hardest of us all Day after day after night after day and who catches when they fall?

And so this is for the people who need help to get them dressed

And for those who smile while all the while they wipe your mother’s mess

So don’t talk to me of “cushy” like the Tory press have tried

Because for thousands upon thousands – it’s still barely dignified

And so this is for the people who can spot divisive fools Setting worker against worker. There they go, divide and rule.

But we know that stood together is our strongest, safest bet

But they’ve bought us off with trinkets which they’ve sold to us with debt And so this is for the people who are aching every day For someone to say to Cameron just what I’m about to say And so this is for the people at the rough end of your smooth

Those who know that you are lying when your lips begin to move

And so this is for the people who are spitting blood and thunder

When you drop the ball, we watch appalled, another thud and blunder

And so this is for the people who are bitten hard and raw In this rumble in your jungle which is blue in tooth and claw

And so this is for the people who are deafened by the screams

In their daily living nightmare world of Maggie Thatcher’s dreams

And so this is for the people at the sharp end in eighties Weren’t invited to the nasty party, learned what Tory hate is

And so this is for the people who recoil Clause 28 And your “Hang Nelson Mandela badges” a part of all the hate.

And so this is for the people who can see through all your games

Yes, you’ve hired a smiley choirboy but the songs are still the same

And he’ll happily kiss babies but he flatters and deceives Says “I mean it most sincerely, folks.” Then batters us and leaves.

And you’re still the nasty party and you’re party clothes are fake

So don’t expect us to respect you when you throw us crumbs of cake

And so this is for the people who first formed the NHS Against the fierce opposition from, go on – I’ll let you guess!

And so this is for the people who see Cameron roll his sleeves

And he can wash his dirty hands all day. It’s poison when he breathes!

And so this is for the people who see Lansley picking sores With his answers filled with cancers which his snakeoil never cures.

And so this is for the people who regret the choice they made

When they voted liberal democrat and now they’ve been betrayed

And so Nick Clegg, if you’re listening, can you hear your people weep?

Can you hear the people crying? Does your conscience let you sleep?

And so “Stand up to the Tories, Nick!” the voters cry and bellow

But by now they’ve seen you’re blue not green and, like your tie, you’re yellow

And you’ve weasel words and even worse your pledges were all hollow

And they “agreed with Nick” but now they’re sick, they see you suck and swallow

And the ruthless, truthless Tories do the same old Tory things

You’re their puppets now you Muppets! And they’re pulling all your strings

And so this is for the people who you smile at as you fail But your throats will slit on voting slips with a cross against betrayal

And so this is for the people who can see a global story For the mud stained and the blood stained who can see no hope or glory

And so this is for the people as you prostitute the earth Who are destitute but resolute against your sense of worth And so this is for the people who have heard you make an oath

To make sustainable attainable in a system based on growth!? And so this is for the people know that that remains unseen There’ll be camels through a needle’s eye first! Do you think we’re green?

And so this is for the people who just look and look again And can only see a government of privileged white men And so this is for the people who can see you’re millionaires

In your spivvy suits and in cahoots with shady billionaires And so this is for the people who can see you’re in the thrall

Of the trillionaires and zillionaires who are squeezing our …Town Halls

And they’ve kidnapped all our futures and they’re holding us to ransom

And they’re screwing knives in ruined lives unless we pay them handsome

And they’ll measure this in misery, they’ll measure this in debt

And they’ll measure this in poverty, they’ll measure this in deaths

And they’ll measure this in ghost towns and closed down old communities

They’ll measure this in hauntings from the ghosts of opportunities

But our grandchildren will judge this as a criminal deceit And they will take the corpse of justice and they’ll lay it at your feet

And Osbourne, Clegg and Cameron flash their blades like cavaliers

With the rapiers and the cutlasses of mad free marketeers And they genuflect to Thatcher but in truth they’re even worse

As they rob the poor to feed the rich like Robin Hood reversed

And we see them in Cathedrals hiding blood stains on their pslams

What did Jesus do to moneylenders? Now there’s a call to arms!

They’re just the storm troopers of blitzkrieg, economic shock and awe

But it’s shocking and it’s awful, and we’re not taking any more

And so this is or the people who refuse to be a pawn To be money shots on honey pots in economic porn And we see their countenance malign and their dark satanic ills

But we’re rising from our slumbers and we’ll chase them to the hills

And so this is for the people who are standing to be counted For the decent men and women and the campaigns being mounted And so this is for the people who would join us if they dared

Our unvanquishable numbers will soon have them running scared

And so again, I ask the nation, see the real cause of the trouble

Please don’t fight us, help unite us. Our struggle is your struggle

And so this is for the people and the soul of William Blake And the spirit of our forebears and the world they tried to make

And they tied a blood red ribbon around the scroll that tells us how

And they fought so we could read it, and by God, we’re reading now

So bring your bows of burning gold now! Bring your arrows of desire!

Bring me your spears, oh clouds unfold now! Bring me chariots of fire!

We will not cease from mental fight, nor will our sword sleep in our hands!

We’ll fight in union, sing in unison for this green and pleasant land!

http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2346