Patrick Dickinson :: Blog

Today, the new poet laureate published her first piece in her official position, simply entitled ‘Politics’. Unsurprisingly, it’s a bile-fuelled, exasperated  attack on the various shenanigans currently engulfing parliament and in particular, the antics of Gordon Brown and his cronies.

When I found out that Duffy was to be the new laureate, I wasn’t exactly thrilled, having well and truly ‘done’ her poetry at school. And yes, I don’t think this poem is the greatest in terms of style. For an entertaining and witty attack on the government, I much prefer the flamboyant prose of Boris in his Telegraph column.

But that’s just me nitpicking – it is the gesture that matters. I say good for her, writing a poem like this. After all, it was in part the government who selected her for the post. After the rather whimpering, simpering presence of Andrew Motion (sorry, Sir Andrew Motion as he is now known), this kind of ballsy attack on the very people who appointed her comes as a  breath of fresh air. Duffy has resolved not to sit back, glugging copious quantities of sherry, while writing rather mundane pieces about royal weddings. Instead, she has chosen to employ her position within the establishment to the benefit of the people without.

Speaking about Duffy’s appointment, Gordon Brown last month said,

“She is a truly brilliant modern poet who has stretched our imaginations by putting the whole range of human experiences into lines that capture the emotions perfectly.”

He should take heed (if he still listens to anyone but Mandy); Duffy has certainly captured the public anger felt towards him and his ailing government. I imagine Gord’s next statement, if it comes at all, will be somewhat subdued by comparison.

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I’ve had to put my nice, non-political rant on hold for the moment, as the Euro elections have undoubtedly stirred the hackles of every morally conscious political blogger: They’re in. They’ve got their spiky, ugly-looking boot in the door of politics. We can bemoan this fact until the cows come home, but such is the lot of democracy. We have to accept that the people who get in have been legitimately voted for. We’ve only ourselves to blame for either not voting or voting for the wrong people. With only a 34% turnout, the blame lies squarely with the apathetics.

Sadly, the results have clearly pointed to regional disparity. It was the northern English regions that voted Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons in. It’s understandable, being someone who lives in York, having overheard what old codgers frequently come out with in the pubs. Aside from people in these regions not being the most open-minded when it comes to a lot of issues, this result was a defiant, two-fingered salute to what they see as an out of touch central government in London and an even more out of touch parliament over the Channel.

It’s interesting how the media campaign against the BNP has apparently backfired, allowing Nick Griffin to present his party as the “demonised” underdogs, the great suppressed voice of the “indigenous” British people (whoever they actually are). The BNP leaflet we got through the door (which I subsequently turned into a dartboard) listed Trafalgar, Dunkirk, D-Day and The Falklands as rousing instances of national solidarity. The one thing they have in common? We’re fighting someone. I think it says a lot for so-called patriotism when the only way you can define it is by getting a group of thugs together and going and duffing up a load of ‘foreigners’. They’re the political equivalent of rowdy football supporters.

But enough about them. In an interview, David Cameron said he was both “delighted” with the EU election results at the same time as finding them “desperately depressing”. These results offer the sharpest pin to his general election bubble. If this is how people choose to vote now, what’s to stop them voting (or not voting) the same way in a general election? Granted, the Tories would most certainly win, but crucially, the BNP would have finally infiltrated Westminster.

If there is one vaguely amusing thing to take away from all this, it’s that the BNP won seats in an institution they hate, before they actually got into their own parliament. And that pretty much sums them up – they thrive only on this feeling of hate. Fascism, as the twentieth century so shockingly demonstrated, is borne out of economic hardship, resentment and political disaffection. And we have plenty of that, thanks to Gordon & co. at Westminster Plc.