First they came for the miners…
From a comment by Takra in a letter to The Shropshire Star:
First they came for the miners
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a miner and my heating used oil
Then they came for the car workers
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a car worker and I drive a German car
Then they came for the steelworkers
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a steelworker and this was just market forces
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist and they’re all lefties anyway
Then they came for the Milk Marketing Board
And I did not speak out
Because it surely meant milk prices would go up
Then they came for the badgers and the bees
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a badger or a bee and those agrochemical companies surely never lie
Then they came for the disabled, workless and poor
And I did not speak out
Because I was not disabled, workless or poor and of course subsidies and grants are a right (nothing like benefits at all)
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me and I was a bit surprised the Tories had shafted me
Apologies to Pastor Martin Niemoller
It is wrong to tar all with the same brush – but it is hard to be too sympathetic given the general lack of support most farmers have had in the past for others (totally missing the irony of a Red Tractor sticker in the window of a BMW).