My name is Jack Cade. In 1450, from April till July, I led a revolt of the people against a corrupt, unscrupulous, ineffective government. For too long they had abused the people of this land whilst enriching themselves through our suffering. They laughed at our complaints, decried our demands, and exploited our exasperation. Should we have allowed ourselves to simply be tolerated, ignored and forgotten? Should we have allowed those deafened by delusions to dictate the decimation of defiance? Should we have allowed ourselves to be oppressed? No. It was time to make them listen. It was time for consequences. It was time to matter.

We marched across the country and our numbers swelled, as peasants, craftsmen, knights and MPs joined our ranks. We defeated the king’s forces and executed those who had profited from our misery. We took the city of London. We were a stark reminder that those who seek to rule us can only do so with our consent.

Our rebellion failed. We lost sight of our aims and grew drunk on power. We turned a once sympathetic public against us. On 12th July, I was killed whilst trying to evade capture. I am a stark reminder to not become the monster you set out to slay.

I look at the UK now and see little has changed in the last 570 years. The UK is still riven by the inequalities and injustices its system of governance perpetuates. The potential to create a society rebuilt around more socially and economically just relationships is forever within our grasp, but forever denied by those who claim power in our name. The potential of the people, our potential, is still being appropriated by successive governments and reduced into a blunt tool. They have turned that tool against us and extinguished our efforts towards collective mobilisation.

On 15th February 2003, millions of people in over 600 cities around the world marched to protest the impending Iraq War. They were ignored. An estimated 460,000 people were killed in the ensuing conflict. Petitions did not save them, because the government ignored these. Marches and rallies did not save them, because the government ignored them. Peaceful protest did not save them, because the government ignored them.

They can do this because they have reduced protest to a performance. We believe we need to recognise this and engage with it to refocus attention on the ideas behind the performance. Only then can we empower our communities in ways that reimagine what and who should represent us. We cannot reclaim the space that has for so long been occupied and poisoned by those who squat in power if we do not resist the issues they create. If we do not revolt against the inequalities they impose upon us, then they will always succeed in reducing our suffering to nothing more than a backdrop for empty, performative gestures.

We recognise the need for transformation. We will highlight the injustices of the past to expose how we must resist them today. We will prioritise the voice of those that suffer. Their message is important. We are not. We will revolt against those that stand in the way of change. We want you to join us.

Recognise. Resist. Revolt.