Ancient nursery rhyme could be an anthem for modern day troubles

ROCK-a-bye Baby is a nursery lullaby. I didn’t really have to tell you that, because for most of us it goes back to the very start of awareness, or even before we were really aware.

That’s actually rather scary.

Scary because the rhyme is a lullaby and a lullaby is a rather quiet and gentle song. The gentle melodic sounds hopefully send the restless infant to sleep.

But what should we think about the curious words?

The baby is resting in a tree top. Then the wind blows and the cradle starts to rock. Then suddenly the bough breaks and down comes baby, cradle and all!

The words of so many nursery rhymes have always troubled me.

It seems to me that this ancient nursery rhyme is perhaps an anthem for our troubled time.

We expect that those in power will work for the good of all.

Well, unless you have been living in some sort of bubble you will now know that assumption is simply not true.

Last week Torbay Council held a meeting at Paignton’s beleaguered Parkfield Youth Centre to explain the Draconian cuts in next year’s budget.

I gather that about 10 members of the public pitched up to this meeting.

Why so few? The meeting was in the late afternoon which really ruled out people who were out there earning a crust.

I was one of those out earning a crust and so didn’t attend.

Many others will have already reached the conclusion that the decisions have already been made and so voted with their feet.

I don’t know about you, but I have started to feel rather helpless of late.

We all seem to face a daily buffeting that inevitably starts to confuse even the most robust of us.

One thing is certain and that is the fact that those at the top of the pile will not feel the pain being experienced by the most vulnerable.

Roman governor Pontius Pilate famously washed his hands of a problem that he didn’t want to face, just over 2,000 years ago.

That washing of hands seems very popular at the moment as the financial noose tightens and the irresponsible political rhetoric spins endlessly.

Thinking about council spending, I am very aware of the fragmenting of essential services. Those things that a council must provide hang by a thread.

The discretionary spend has of course disappeared like the early morning mist on a hot summer day.

When the council provided care in the community I felt that people were in good hands.

So much of that provision has now been shoved out to private providers, charities and community interest companies.

I hear time and time again of social provision companies disappearing from sight and inevitably think of the most vulnerable members of society suffering.

A little while ago I spoke to a self-employed home help worker who was hopelessly confused by the ever-changing landscape.

So think for a moment about that nursery rhyme and ask yourself whether more and more of us might be sitting in the fragile cradle at the top of a tree.

The wind certainly is blowing and I worry that much of what we take for granted might soon come crashing to the ground!

Universal Credit is one of the winds shaking the tree.

Those living chaotic lives will be amongst the first to feel the pain.

Such a benefit system could only have been devised by people who have never lived in poverty.

The neediest are already being pushed into the merciless hands of loan sharks and other predators, or simply going hungry.

Sometimes it is really hard to keep the smile.