Hackney poet Michael Rosen finds no rhyme or reason for cuts
Hackney poet and author Michael Rosen (with parrot)
At a meeting of the Hackney Alliance to defend public services I caught up with poet, author, campaigner and Hackney resident, Michael Rosen, and sought his views on the looming cuts to public services and plans for ‘The Big Society’.
Michael Rosen is angry. You wouldn’t guess it from his warm manner and affable smile. He’s angry because what he says his parents and grandparents fought for long and hard is being dismantled before his eyes. He’s talking about the welfare state.
“It was a fantastic development because it meant that for the first time in history people had the right to claim the things they needed to live a decent life. Before that people had to go cap in hand to beg at the doors of charities.”
“Now they want us to go back to the Victorian age when we had to prove ourselves deserving of hand outs from the governor of philanthropic organisations,” he says.
Michael says that David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ is just an excuse to hand over state responsibility for providing for citizens to charities. The cuts are likely to hit Hackney harder than other areas, as a higher proportion of the population works in the public sector.
“It might sound like a nice idea, but actually charities are totally unaccountable. No one has a right to anything from a charity and no recourse if they’re not provided for.”
But how does he respond to those who say there is no alternative; it might be painful, but the good times are over aren’t they? Surely it’s time to tighten the belt?
“Well, when the welfare state was set up after the war we were in a mess financially then too. Our deficit was four times what it is today, but we managed not just to run but to set up the welfare state,” he argues.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, in fact Michael says he’s more optimistic than he’s been for a long time, “People are getting angry, and I don’t just mean the usual suspects, people who are very middle of the road are saying they won’t stand for it.
“There’s never been a time when the system has been so naked and we can see it for what it really is.”
That’s all well and good, but what is to be done? With union membership falling and talk of apathy amongst the masses, is resistance to the cuts a realistic goal?
“I don’t think we should just look to the traditional tools of opposition, we can do fantastic things when we come together and recognise our common struggle. People in schools, workplaces, universities and so on have to organise themselves and be willing to fight. In the long term, well, I wouldn’t like to tell others what kind of society we should working towards, but when people work together they find new ways of living and being and it builds from there.”
He concludes, “They are always telling us that there is no alternative. I think we, the people, have no alternative but to fight these cuts with everything we’ve got.”
Related story: Hackney anti-cuts groups vow to resist austerity measures