In July last year I was asked to speak at an Anti-Austerity rally outside Belfast’s city hall. For days I poured over what I would say, consulted friends, family and trusted colleagues for their opinions on what I had written and finally put my message down in just over 2000 words.
The day I was set to speak it lashed out of the heavens, but I wasn’t put off, I had a babysitter sorted, my partner with me, I was nervous but I was determined. Like a drowned rat I arrived at the site to be told the rally had been called off due to the rain.
I was shocked, disappointed and even made a disparaging comment that standing up for one’s convictions should not be “weather or audience dependent”.
So, I resigned my speech to the bin and I chalked up my return to activism as a waste of time. However, since that washed out day in July much has happened, the Trump presidency madness and the Ash for Cash scandal just two examples.
I wondered how relevant my speech still was. Most people know that beneath this multi-coloured head of hair lies an eternal hippy. The thought process began with me wondering why I had an ongoing sore throat (since mid last year) and why I kept losing my voice. The hippy in me wondered was it because I wasn’t using my voice, because after stepping forward I stepped back almost immediately.
So here it is, most of my speech (slightly edited but still mainly meant for speaking not reading). I’d be curious and interested to know other people’s thoughts:
“I think one of the most important things for me to point out is that I’ve never been politically active in this way in my adult life. In fact it’s been quite a few years since I’ve taken to the streets for any of the issues we might be talking about today.
“Although I hold some very strong opinions I’ve never really had a keen interest in the political issues of our country, in fact that is reflected in the fact that I’ve never been a political or hard news journalist.
“That said, I grew up in a very socially aware household where not only did I develop very passionate views about human rights and other issues but I was always encouraged not to fear the consequences of speaking out and standing up for what I believe in – I was one of the lucky ones.
“How I came to be here today stems from the first time in my adult life that I genuinely became concerned about the political system, as the devastating Brexit campaign grew momentum I realised that those who sought to diminish, destroy and dissolve our human rights could potentially remove the one and only safety net we had in Northern Ireland – our membership of the European Union.
“I understand that today there are both pro-Brexit and pro-Remain campaign supporters here (EDIT: now reading this) and because of that I thought long and hard about whether or not I could – or I wanted to – speak up about how I felt.
“I understood that the issue of austerity completely transcended the issue of whether or not we were members of the European Union. But I had to be true to myself, I’ve only begun to care because of Brexit, I’m only standing here today because of that decision and I’d like to tell you why.
“Only this morning I was going to politely bow out for fear that some people may not agree with or even appreciate what I had to say and why I felt it was important to say these things at an anti-austerity rally. Then I realised that was cowardly, to not speak up just because someone in the crowd might not agree with something I had to say was the very essence of what I wanted to say – because despite our political, cultural, religious or ethical differences we are stronger if we unite together.
“So, why am I here? Having not stood in front of a public audience to speak about political or social issues in 20 years it took Brexit to galvanise what was inside me all this time, it took Brexit for me to realise that I had no choice, I had to stand up I speak up about what I believed in and sometimes that means talking about things other people don’t agree with. However, it doesn’t mean that I disregard those with differing views – actually very much the opposite – it’s what I celebrate
“I won’t forget the morning I woke up to the news that the Brexit campaign were victorious in misguiding the people into a decision that would affect the population of the United Kingdom economically, politically, socially and mentally. Whilst many Brexiters had relatively plausible reasons for their decisions, others based their vote on a right wing agenda that was steeped in racism, xenophobia and a longing for a British Empire that will never command the global power it did in its heyday.
“Some Brexiters put faith in the campaign leaders and their seeming commitment to re-allocate the money we send to Europe to our health service and welfare state. The sun had barely rose on the day they celebrated yanking the population out of Europe before Brexit campaigners revealed they had ‘made a mistake’ making these promises.
“I mean, it was on the side of a big pink bus – so it must have been true – right?
“Up until this point I didn’t take much of an interest in the austerity campaign, to be frank it just didn’t feature on my radar and it wasn’t because I disagreed with the core message, it was because I was not aware in a wider sense. I was not emotionally connected to the cause.
“Within hours of the Brexit vote being confirmed the value of our pound plummeted and the future of uncertainty had begun. The harsh reality of the world I lived in was becoming apparent. As business insider described it “stocks jumped off a cliff” dropping more than 10 per cent and sterling fell to a three-decade low. Prior to and since Brexit Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned several times that the economic consequences of Brexit “could include a technical recession.”
“I won’t lie, for the first time in my adult life I cried my heart out because of politics. I was broken by the news, I felt grief, loss, anger, betrayal and the worst of all fear. I spent the day in shock hoping to wake up from the nightmare. Thoughts and questions running through my head all day – the biggest one being “who would protect us now”. Suddenly the age of austerity mattered to me and the more I read, the more I educated myself on Brexit and the political, social and economical matters surrounding it – the more I empowered myself and the more I realised I had to speak up.
“Suddenly the world began to shrink again as the news became flooded with commentators evaluating the news and telling us just how bad it could be and would get. Meanwhile the Brexiters exhaled in relief and joyously celebrated getting their “country back”.
“And then the propaganda began, the news also became flooded with the not-so-intelligent commentators trying to make us believe that although Northern Ireland as a whole voted to remain that the voters were split down unionist and nationalist lines – here we go again I remember thinking.
“But the fact was that the majority of Northern Ireland voters did not want to leave the European Union and neither did Scotland. That comes as no surprise to me given that Northern Ireland has benefited substantially from EU money – maybe even moreso than other parts of the UK.
“I believe leaving will hit us hard, don’t be fooled into believing that Westminster will make up the financial deficit, they simply won’t. The purse strings have been tightly drawn in this age of austerity and Northern Ireland is way down the pecking order or importance.
“In agriculture many of our tens of thousands of farms will be forced to consolidate without funding from the European Union. People will be forced to give up land and an industry that has been in their families for generations. Those who have little will be absorbed by those who have a lot – where have we heard this before !
“Despite still speaking positively about economic opportunity in Northern Ireland to outside investors, behind the scenes commentators have expressed concern for the very future of entities such as Invest Northern Ireland, the organisation that distributes a vast amount of European development money to business and industry here (I’ll admit, I haven’t followed this story since I wrote the speech). Where does that leave the thousands of jobs being created every year from this money that Westminster do not provide and in an age of austerity will claim they cannot afford?
“A poll by the Institute of Directors revealed that two out of three businesses believed the Brexit decision will have a negative impact on their business, whilst a quarter have now put a freeze on recruitment.
“International law firm Pinsent Masons predicted that many business deals would be pulled and critical contracts renegotiated and already it quickly emerged in the local press that some multi-national companies have pulled out of multi-million pound deals which would have seen job creation and critical investment into our capital city.
“Wealth management specialists DAVY have warned that a recession will begin this year (I wonder how true this was for some people/companies).
“Tourism Ireland said they believe holidays will become more expensive and the list goes on. Each of these things hitting hard, hitting our pockets and our families at grass roots levels.
“Brexit will be expensive, it will lead to further austerity measures and it will be the people on the street who suffer the most.
“It was estimated online that of all the European Union funding distributed across the UK, Northern Ireland receives in excess of one thousand euro per person whilst in London – the area least funded by EU money – receives just 45 euro per person.
“In these times of austerity do we really believe that Westminster are going to match this money which was being plunged into Northern Ireland’s communities and economy? I highly doubt it. I hope that I will stand corrected, but I believe that’s just a pipe dream.
“When I was asked to speak today I have to admit that one of my biggest concerns was whether or not I truly understood the meaning of austerity and therefore the message of the anti-austerity campaign. So I began asking people and I found that much like Brexit, many people thought they knew but weren’t totally confident about the real effects on them or their families. One person actually said to me “well it sounds like I would agree with it”.
“I was overwhelmed by this, I realised the true depth of our lack of empowerment, I realised that lack of knowledge and information could end this fight before it had even begun. Afterall, that same lack of knowledge, information and un-questioning trust of political leaders had resulted in us going head first to recession following Brexit.
“And so I asked myself what would people do to try and find out whether this is something they needed to care about, there was only one answer – take to Google. There they would look up the meaning of austerity and they will ask themselves “well, if the government don’t have it, how can we ask them to spend it”. No one wants to get into debt, right?
“Exactly, but where the important issue amongst all this lies for me is in the fact that we, the people, seemingly have no control over which budgets get cut when the books are being balanced. And more often than not those budgets that do get cut are those that directly affect the working classes, those who cannot afford to pay for better health services and education or who are reliant on the welfare system.
“Then I realised that this affects much more than our access to services or the amount of money we have in our pockets.
“At the end of the day a hungry man is less concerned about the human rights of his neighbour than he is about where his next meal is coming from.
“By default austerity has become the enemy of our fight for human rights across the board. And Europe who helped us protect them will soon be nothing more than a distant memory.
“An editor once told me “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions” and this has rang true for me for many years because he was right – it’s much easier to complain about and criticise the things that are wrong than it is to take action and initiate or develop a solution.
“Therefore, it is my opinion that simply denouncing the political process might be an easy option for the angry, disillusioned and disenfranchised but it’s not a realistic sole course of action. Only by properly and intelligently engaging with the political process can we even attempt to affect change.
“We cannot continue to allow those in power to divide and conquer the people of Northern Ireland. We cannot continue to allow those in power to erode, extinguish and eradicate our human rights.
“Whether we are fighting for the extension of the 1967 abortion act, the right for our gay brothers and sisters to marry, to stop big businesses fracking our beautiful countryside or simply standing up for our society’s most vulnerable or disenfranchised whose voices cannot be heard, there is only ONE SOLUTION to this problem – we MUST advocate inclusion and integration on all levels and in all aspects of our society. Regardless of how we may differ in cultural, ethical, religious or political beliefs we MUST stand united for together we are stronger than a fractured society fighting with our neighbours.
“In Northern Ireland regardless of our political, cultural or religious background one thing we all have in common is that we will never be free. With a mere 1.8 million population and staggering running costs our country, region or province – whatever you choose to call it – will always be at the mercy of a bigger power.
“We will never realistically have our Braveheart moment but what we can have and what I believe we will have is a David and Golliath moment in our history where the little guy stands up to the big guy and wins.
“Despite what the far right would have you believe a vote for a fellow human being’s simple human rights is not betraying your religious, cultural or ethical beliefs. In fact I believe that acknowledging that others deserve these rights whether you agree with them or not is the ultimate act of democracy, compassion and unity.
“I stand here today not for myself, not for you and not for a utopia I can never have – I stand here today for my three year old son Logan (now 4) whose future is in my hands and yours and who shouldn’t be left to clean up a mess he didn’t create.
“Without inclusion, integration and unity we cannot empower ourselves to take back control of our own lives.
“We cannot continue to allow those in power to erode, extinguish and eradicate our human rights.
“We must unite to stop those who seek to diminish, destroy and dissolve our human rights.
“Today in Northern Ireland more than ever what unites us is more powerful than anything that ever divided us. No longer will they divide and conquer for Northern Ireland is more united than the empire ever was.”
And there it was, my speech that never saw the light of day. And do I still think it’s relevant – absolutely! In fact moreso. As the Northern Ireland Executive crumbles and our country once again is plunged once again into chaos you can be sure the people who will suffer the most are the people who cannot afford to do so.
With that I ask people to seriously consider who you are voting for and why you are voting in the next election. We’ve tried SDLP & UUP, we’ve tried DUP & SF, maybe now it’s time to hand the reigns over to ALLIANCE & the GREEN PARTY…sure they couldn’t do any worse? Could they?
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