A Poem for The Chancellor — Level Up

Mike Padgham, Chair of The Independent Care Group, is tirelessly campaigning for changes in Social Care; he commissioned me to write a poem to The Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the budget. I wrote it as a response to a recent tweet from Rishi Sunak, as well as an invitation from Mike for the Chancellor to visit him at his care home in Scarborough.

A Poem for Rishi Sunak

Level up —

Go on.

Unleash the country’s potential,

but let that be human,

not simply

Fiscal.

Make the funds you proffer

ensure that care be offered

to all those people neglected —

1.5 million affected

by

a

Lack

of

Care.

Are you aware?

It won’t just take more money,

but a massive policy shift.

It’s your opportunity

to act without impunity.

And fix this national rift.

Take this chance,

shake it up.

Perhaps with Cummings and Johnson

sit, and have a cup…

A cup of kindness

Of mindfulness

About humankind

And the kind of humans

We

Strive

To

Be.

– how can any government rest easily?

When

1.5 million people

Need your help

Desperately.

Let’s have a National Health and Social Care Service:

fund them together

— your citizens deserve it.

Let social care go under…

And

The NHS

will be knocked

asunder.

Come and meet us;

we can advise,

we can consult,

and open up your eyes

to the needs of the people,

so many out there —

vulnerable people,

requiring your care.

So, please, do crack on.

Crack it all open

Mix it up

Take a risk

Write the words that dare not be spoken.

Level up with yourself

About Social Care.

Think about the nation’s health —

Real people

out there.