Hello!

It’s as simple as this.

I’m starting #takebackBritain because somebody had to.

I’ve always left politics to others. I’ve always thought they were better at it, thicker-skinned, and smoother operators. I still think that, and I admire good people who put their heads above the parapet. Especially in these aggressive times. It takes guts.

That’s why I’ve never done it. Until now.

Because I feel so exasperated by what’s happening to our country, and I know I’m not the only one.

But where do we go if we want to take a stand?

Where do we go if want to break out of social media anger and make a difference in the real world?

I’ve had so many conversations with – and thousands of messages from – frustrated people who’ve simply had enough.

People from across the old political divides who are sick to the back teeth of dishonest, divisive, chaotic government.

They’ve had enough of Ministers’ smirking, catch-me-if-you-can lies.

They’ve had enough of the siphoning-off of public money in massive contracts for the Johnson regime’s friends, family and political donors. Contracts which don’t even deliver the goods. Contracts granted to companies formed on the back of an envelope, with pizza-delivery terms and conditions.

They’ve had enough of the selling of political access by “consultant” MPs, of a government trying to rig the rules to protect its culpable friends, of MPs treating their roles as second jobs, and the repeated appointment of allegedly paid-for peerages.

They’ve had enough of the running down of our NHS: waiting lists approaching six million patients; cancers left untreated; the near-collapse of A&E – ambulances queuing for entire shifts outside hospitals; patients unable to enter the building – the ongoing lack of beds; and the total failure to address shortages of doctors, nurses and care home staff.

They’ve had enough of the inability of government to secure basic supplies, like affordable energy, petrol in our pumps and food on our shelves.

They’ve had enough of the government’s broken supply chain which has left us without the chemicals needed to treat our water, and resulted in the wholesale dumping of raw sewage into our waterways and onto our beaches.

They’ve had enough of rising prices and rising National Insurance, running alongside brutally painful removals of Universal Credit support for those most in need in our communities.

They’ve had enough of a government that has to be shamed by a footballer into doing the right thing by hungry kids – while the Prime Minister literally lines his walls with gold and lives on lavish, upmarket takeaways, paid for by God knows whom.

They’ve had enough of the disastrous handling of the pandemic – catastrophic, cocksure delays; deadly mistakes brushed away and never apologised for; vast sums squandered on useless PPE, and even now, the way our schools – kids and staff alike – are being thrown under the bus of an undeclared herd immunity policy.

They’ve had enough of 1,000 English kids each month being hospitalised with Covid since “Freedom Day”, and 11,770 deaths in the first three months of “freedom”.

They’ve had enough of Johnson’s cavalier “let the bodies pile high” attitude to ordinary people’s horrendous suffering and loss.

They’ve had enough of a government with one rule for itself, and another for the rest of us – an hypocrisy which is not just arrogant, but which destroys much-needed social cohesion in the face of a public health emergency.

They’ve had enough of the demonisation of doctors, lawyers, immigrants, and even whole sectors – “fuck business!“ – anyone who stands in their way, and anyone who is easy prey.

They’ve had enough of a government shamelessly whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment and tacitly condoning racism, with all the division and violence that comes with it.

They’ve had enough of a government which seriously talks of “pushing back” desperate people on boats, and provokes conversations about the United Kingdom letting human beings drown in the English Channel.

They’ve had enough of Britain’s disgraceful “Hostile Environment”.

They’ve had enough of the needless culling of pigs, of fish fermenting on our docks, of milk poured down the drain, of fruit unpicked and vegetables left to rot in the ground.

They’ve had enough of our import and export businesses buckling under Brexit restrictions, and, for the consumer, the ever-worsening aggro and cost of buying goods and spare parts from overseas.

They’ve had enough of being told it’s somehow a good thing no longer to be free to work, travel and settle in the EU like other Europeans.

They’ve had enough of being told they’re better off when clearly they are not. When fear of being unable to meet rising bills is the daily experience of so many, and when the future seems so uncertain.

They’ve had enough of being sold “global Britain” when they can see that every decision the government makes actually means further isolation, higher prices, reduced availability, limited choice, and less respect for Britain around the world.

They’ve had enough of hearing about “building back better” from a Government which, when it really comes to it, shows nothing but a callous heartlessness towards the least fortunate.

They’ve had enough of the gaslighting.

So it’s time….