Tag: politics

Matt Hancock in the Jungle

green trees
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The politicians want the world to see

They’re human just like you and me.

And if it takes them making being fools,

Looking like a bunch of tools

Then that’s OK, ’cause they’re getting paid

More than the rest of us have ever made.

It really looks like he’s lost the plot

Trying to be something he’s really not.

If anyone reading this is outside of the UK and you have never heard of Matt Hancock, then he is a politician who is taking part in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here this year. That is a reality show where ‘celebrities’ go to the jungle in Australia and do lots of tasks to win meals.

Matt Hancock was our Health Secretary when we were going into all our lockdowns. However, he was disgraced when he was caught on camera, having an affair. This was bad enough, but it also meant that he broke the social distancing rules that he was responsible for.

He is still a serving MP so it does seem really disrespectful to his constituents, buggering off to Australia when he should be doing the job he’s paid to do – with money that comes from our taxes.

However, I can see why he would want to do it. If he can show that he is human and has redeeming qualities, then perhaps he might grow his waning popularity. If I were in his shoes, I would probably be tempted to do this as one last roll of the dice. What would I have to lose? And some politicians have actually come out of that show quite well.

He also wants to promote his work in support of dyslexia and I think that is important and could do some real good. As a teacher, I can see how important this work could be for so many people.

Whatever happens, I think he was a great signing by the makers of the programme and it has certainly made me want to tune in later this month.

Much Love

Rachel xx

the political shake up

a group of administration inside of conference room
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The Cabinet and the slightly eerie sounding

Shadow Cabinet moving in the darkness,

People getting fired and others

Walking out of Number 10, to jeers

From media men with cameras

And their fluffy microphones.

Who knows what’s going on

Behind that black and polished door,

We’ve all lost track

And sort of wish for Boris back.

Crikey, our political scene is a bit of a mess here in the UK. I hardly even know who the PrimeMinister is anymore. They last for about two weeks and then we’re onto a fresh one. And then the monarchy has had a bit of an upheaval, so everything feels a bit wonky at the moment.

I do think that most people would love to be a fly on the wall in some of the meetings in Number 10 at the moment. I bet there have been some angry words exchanged between lots of different people.

There could be no worse job than that of politician and I think I’ll just be leaving them to it.

Much Love

Rachel xx

the entitled man

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You’d never find him questioning himself,

That’s what you must remind yourself

As you sit in an exam, or an interview

You don’t think you’re qualified for.

He’d just walk straight, put his coat on the chair

And tell the world that it belongs to me,

And that’s what comes with the money

And being told that you’re worth it

When perhaps you just have to face the fact

That you’re not…

Here in the UK, we have had quite a turbulent time when it comes to politics – but finally, Boris has put in his resignation. However, we have all been left wondering what the hell took him so long?

We have had endless lies and scandals and yet he has clung to his power. He still has his supporters, but many of us have watched and tried desperately to make sense of what is going on.

My take on it, is the sense of entitlement that permeates the upper classes has caused this toxic situation where a man really believes that he is above the law and he just has a God given right to a role that really needs to be earned.

Interestingly, a year or so ago, I was watching a programme where people had to make jewellery and compete to win a prize. There was a woman on there that was getting in a flap because she was losing confidence in herself. She was genuinely talented and yet she was completely losing faith in herself.

The presenter came along and said ‘You need to trust how good you are, do you think Boris sits in his office and worries about whether or not he is good enough to do his job?’

It was such a random thing to say but it really resonated with me. The rich white man who has been to the best schools and universities that money can buy will never even question his ability. So why should a talented woman?

The question we are all left asking now is when will this entitled man leave Number 10? It feels that he still deserves that right until October.

Read the room, Boris. Read the room.

Much Love

Rachel xx

the politician’s daughter

white house
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She was shepherded on stage

After the win, when the whole world wanted to see

The happy family, the secretive three,

Her father waving in a stately way, and mother

Dressed in designer clothes, hair done

That afternoon at Toni and Guy’s,

While Madison stood awkwardly by her side

Looking out across that sea of waving signs,

Her surname out there on their tainted lips,

Not that she had much of a choice up there.

Ugly dress that some consultant picked,

He said it made her look so wholesome when

The country seemed to be falling apart,

Young people these days, with their antisocial ways.

She stands there, stony faced and wishing

That she could be anywhere else, anybody else

As the flashbulbs pop and people chant her name.

the apology by boris

aerial photography of elizabeth tower london
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He stood before the packed out house,

Shuffling papers in his hands

Nervous for his task today,

Ready to speak, to take the stand.

–

The opposition wait with bated breath,

Eager to attack his every word

They know he has no real excuse

Every one he gives them is absurd.

–

I’m sorry, he says through gritted teeth,

I didn’t know that cake made it a party,

Even the balloons were slightly cryptic

And Liz Truss dressed up all tarty.

–

I think we should just drop it now,

I’ve said I’m sorry, paid the fine,

Forget the ones who followed rules

While I had cake and too much wine.

a bit of unexpected fame

man performing on stage
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Who the hell is Sue Gray?

Until last month I thought that maybe

She was my geography teacher from back in the day.

She probably wishes that was her job,

Now as she’s thrust into a spotlight that’s harsh

And her words will be pored over

With a fine tooth comb. She never wanted

This fame that she has, so keep your head low Sue

And hope that this disaster will blow over soon.

I have always wondered what it would be like to have a five minutes of fame, even though it was not expected or particularly wanted. I don’t think I’d want it to happen, but I’m curious to know what it feels like.

There is a certain report that everyone in the UK is waiting for and it is being written by a lady called Sue Gray. Until two weeks ago, none of us had heard of the woman; now she’s on every news bulletin we see.

She is a civil servant so she hasn’t exactly milked her moment in the spotlight. We haven’t seen her stumbling out of clubs and rubbing shoulders with reality TV stars – but I would pay good money to see that.

Still, I bet it has really messed with her head – even the most stable of people would probably feel a bit wobbly when they are so suddenly made to feel so exposed. You see people who go viral or find themselves in the news or suddenly get really successful and they really seem to struggle with that pressure that comes with it.

Fame must be scary at the best of times. But when you didn’t even set out to be famous, I can only imagine how discombobulated you must feel. Has anyone had five minutes of fame? How did it feel?

Much Love

Rachel xx

the cabinet reshuffle

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We sit around the polished table top,

Shuffling notes while waiting for the human shuffle,

The words from PM telling us what will

Befall our futures, will we see the end

Of this day when we were called?

The silence sits so heavily

Upon our sloping shoulders, buckling

Underneath the worry that our jobs will hang

On scales that never seem to balance,

That never seem to fairly show

The hate we have directed in our way.

And then the words will flow from him,

And we are told that jobs are lost

All because the papers chose to stick

Their sharp, barbed claws

Into our softening leather skin.

The UK government has had a bit of a cabinet reshuffle today and most notably our Education Secretary has been sacked. Given everything that has gone on in schools over the past two years, it hardly seems surprising that he has beed axed.

However, listening to it all on the news made me think how awful it must be to go into one of those cabinet meetings knowing that your job is on the line. If you know that you have made mistakes and that you are unpopular with the public, you must feel like a bit of a lamb to slaughter.

I just spent a moment of my evening thinking about how tense it must be in that room, waiting for your name to be read out. And then to be so publicly asked to walk out in front of the press must feel so shameful.

Gavin’s rule over the schools was a shambles, but even I feel a bit sorry for him – for today, at least. (Please don’t send any hate my way for saying that… I just want to show a bit of compassion when Twitter is tearing a fellow human to pieces).

Much Love

Rachel xx

we watched on screens with bated breath

monochrome photo of resist signage
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We watched on screens with bated breath,

As crowds tore forwards, flocks of birds

With angry wings that beat at doors

Barricaded in the hope that it will stop

A flood of hate, of death, of undecided fight.

We’ve seen it many times before, stopped

Before a TV screen in shopping malls

And office buildings all across the land.

We hold our breath in hope that scenes

Are figments of imagination,

Spooling out like movie reels,

But deep down in our darkest souls

We know the world will crumble at our hands.

We’ve screwed it up, and all for what?

A broken system, cracked and pierced,

Letting evil seep through damaged skin.

Well, that was quite the week, wasn’t it? We’ve come through one whole week of 2021 and it’s been a bit of a shit show. Here in the UK we’ve gone into full lockdown and then I turn on the news this morning and see the events that unfolded in the US.

I remember when I was at college and the planes hit the Twin Towers. I walked past the canteen and about a hundred students were gathered around the TV trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening. I got home and watched for hours, quite literally holding my breath.

Now, it feels like those moments happen too many times for comfort. They may not be as world changing as 9/11 but they do still make us stop in our tracks and wonder if we are watching something that is fictional.

Unfortunately, these things are always real and this week has brought a few of those moments. I am becoming desensitized to it, as I am sure, most people are. Let’s just hope that all of this trouble and change will lead to something good. Let’s hope…..

Much Love

Rachel xx

we’re the best in the world……i think

sky sunset field sunrise
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Ball to the back of the net

And a roar of crowds that want the win,

We are the ones that got there first,

Scored the goal or crossed the line.

But at what cost?

And really should we boast?

When we’ve already lost the most…..

So, I saw Gavin Williamson on TV and he was boasting about the fact that our country was the first to approve a vaccine. And in his words, that’s because we are the best country.

I’m patriotic and I love being positive about my British-ness, but I kind of had to hang my head in shame. We didn’t develop the vaccine; all we did was pass it off as safe before the rest of the world. Is that even an achievement? I’m sorry, I’m not a scientist but I don’t understand how that makes us the best?

And the fact that these really boastful comments were coming from our educational secretary who botched exam results and sent students off to halls to get stuck there for three months; well, I find it hard to take any comments like this all that seriously.

I don’t really like the idea of speaking about a vaccine like it’s some sort of championship that needs to be won. I think it’s a bit tasteless and I think we should be helping each other out, country to country.

We have lost 60,000 people now. I am really sad to confirm that we really are not the best. Stay safe and look after each other.

Much Love

Rachel xx

because she’s a bully

She’s wicked but clever

And she’ll scrape at your heart

With a needle so fine,

No one will notice

That she’s put one foot wrong,

But you, my dear

Will be dead in a gutter somewhere.

There’s a lot of talk about workplace bullying at the moment, or at least there is the UK. We are just coming to the end of our Anti-Bullying Week and the news we are seeing couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

Now, I don’t know what had gone on behind closed doors so I can’t really have an opinion but it’s brought back some horrible memories for myself, as I’ve had a really bad experience at work before.

I’d never experienced bullying at school so it was actually really frightening when I went through it as an adult. In my case, I went to my boss feeling really frightened of a colleague. I was literally crying and shaking, I was so frightened.

So it was shocking when the management then thought that it was funny to put me with that colleague every time they could. My duties were changed and my life was made a living hell.

Eventually, after my behaviour got so strange and erratic they pulled me in to say that I was bullying this girl. I ended up being signed off for weeks and losing my job as I suffered from psychosis with the anxiety.

Workplace bullying is just the worst, especially when it’s the boss that has all the power and is abusing it. I hope that the people who have made the complaint are being looked after and that they don’t ever need to face being shouted and sworn at ever again. And a stressful working environment is never an excuse.

Much Love

Rachel xx