WE, THE undersigned — representing a section of the poetry community — pledge our support to the Labour Party in the upcoming general election because we want to see its radically transformative and compassionate manifesto come into effect.

One that will see a commitment to social justice and equality, not only in its comprehensive policies of state support for consumers and producers of the arts and culture generally, but also in its social and economic policies to support working people, including:

• An end to austerity and the ideological attack on our welfare state
• An end to the malicious work capability assessments of the sick and disabled and PIP
• An end to the political scapegoating of the unemployed
• An end to the two-child benefit cap
• An end to discriminatory rhetoric at the dispatch box
• An end to the hostile environment for immigrants and refugees
• An end to rough sleeping
• An end to zero-hours contracts
• An end to unpaid internships
• An end to tuition fees
• An end to creeping privatisation of the NHS

And because we want to see these Labour policies implemented:

• A national education service
• A national care service
• A universal basic income pilot
• A reintroduction of private rent controls and greater rights for renters
• A restitution of legal aid
• Free prescriptions in line with Scotland and Wales
• A green industrial revolution
• A culturally transformative charter for the arts
• The race & faith manifesto

Our austerity-scarred society is crying out for healing, for a radical change of heart from the hostile environment of Tory rule to the hopeful atmosphere of compassion, solidarity and openness that can only come with a Labour government.
Alan Morrison (The Recusant), Mike Quille (Culture Matters)

Signatories: Keith Armstrong, Anne Babson, Bruce Barnes, Christopher Barnes, Amy Evans Bauer, Bob Beagrie, Brian Beamish, Peter Branson, Jane Burn, Gale Burns, Lesley Burt, David Cain, Ushiku Crisafulli, Andy Croft, Alan Dent, Matt Duggan, Steve Ely, Dr Naomi Foyle, Harry Gallagher, Owen Gallagher, Raine Geoghegan, Harry Gilonis, Prof John Goodby, Maria Gornell, Chris Gutkind, John G Hall, Chip Hamer, Emma Hammond, Robert Hampson, Oz Hardwick, Bruce Harris, Martyn Hayes, Kevin Higgins, Clare Hill, Luke Hoggarth, Bernadette Horton, Keith Howden, Zekria Ibrahimi, Andy Jackson, Kevin N Jelf, Nicholas Johnson, Fred Johnston, Strider Marcus Jones, Tom Kelly, David Kessel, Mark Kirkbride, SJ Litherland, Fran Lock, Marilyn Longstaff, Hannah Lowe, Rupert Loydell, Chris McCabe, Niall McDevitt, Rachel McGladdery, John McKeown, James Mainland, Char March, Dez Mendoza, Rob Miles, Christopher Moncrieff, Stephen Mooney, Alan Morrison, Graham Mort, John Muckle, Pete Mullineaux, Mark Murphy, Nicholas Murray, Christopher Norris, Dr John O’Donoghue, Clive Oseman, Antony Owen, Ben Parker-Jones, Ian Parks, Tom Pickard, Steph Pike, Mair De-Gare Pitt, Winston Plowes, Dr David Pollard, Steve Pottinger, Alan Price, Prof John Quicke, Mike Quille, Frank Rafferty, Peter Raynard, Sally Richards, Karl Riordan, Lisa Rossetti, Anne Rouse, Dave Russell, Bernard Saint, Stephen Sawyer, John Scott, John Seed, John Short, Ken W Simpson, Fiona Sinclair, Richard Skinner, Linus Slug, Barry Smith, Geoff Smith, Theresa Sowerby, Steve Spence, David Stoker, Peter Street, Paul Summers, Dr Andrew Taylor FRSA, Laura Taylor, Angela Topping, Ruth Valentine, Jo Walton, Rob Walton, Stephen Watts, Merryn Williams, Gareth Writer-Davies, Wendy Young

Co-ordinated by the Culture Matters Co-operative (culturematters.org.uk, twitter.com/culturesmatters, www.facebook.com/Culturematters2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKpc9JFXh4&t=4s)