As February’s storms of Dudley, Eunice, Franklin and Gladys came and went, I began pondering what would happen if one of us were ever visited by a lifeform from a neighbouring planet.

If those immortal words, “Take me to your leader” were spoken, and understood, where would we start?

Windsor Castle, Number 10/11 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, The Al-Aqsa Mosque, Vatican City, Palo Alto?

Without knowing the intentions of our extra-terrestrial guest and assuming they could read our thoughts and our hearts, I would have to carefully consider our journey before trying to raise the price of 2 tickets.

If I decided upon our ‘political’ leaders how could they explain and justify the model of representative democracy where 5% of the Earths population hold 99.5% of the wealth? If we exited London Euston Station to the sights, sounds and organised chaos of the Capital, could anybody explain the cruel reality of poverty, inequality and injustice set among some of the most treasured institutions & breath-taking architecture?

What could we say if our visitor asked, “Why do you walk past your fellow humans, sitting hungry, cold and impoverished, yet toss an unfinished meal on the pavement?”

If, upon arriving at Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace or 10 Downing Street, would our curious alien understand that we would be denied access, by virtue of our social status? (And the inescapable fact that one of us stood 3ft 1 inch tall, had blue skin & multiple eyes)

Maybe our guest had the technology to take our hand and transport us both to other Cultures, Continents and Capitals.

Rome, Palestine, Silicone Valley, Jerusalem, Ethiopia or Washington DC. Would we see a difference?
If they had the power to travel time, to go back and witness Humankinds greatest triumphs & tragedies, which of our leaders would we choose?

Greta Thunberg, Marcus Rushford, Chico Mendez, The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Mother Theresa? Or further back.
Martin Luther King, JFK, Mahatma Ghandi, Marie Curie?

Or way back,,, William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Jesus Christ, The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his soul, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Confucius,,? To the beginnings, Ethiopia, the cradle of “civilisation”, as we learned to master fire, farming, adopt the wheel and create society.

All of the above “leaders” live or lived through similar inequalities, injustices, victories and failures that we still face today.

Their voices rose above the clatter and chaos of the times to deliver the message we, as part of the NIHR ARC- NWC, continue as we work toward dismantling Health Inequalities, Social & Environmental Injustice and replacing them with Access, Health, Opportunity and Equity.

So, if you or I suddenly find ourselves back in our own home, wondering who, or where to take our galactic tourist in search of “our leader”, maybe we should take a look in the mirror, and invite them to an upcoming ARC Fest.

PS,
On our return trip to back to the future and Stockbridge Village, Knowsley, I couldn’t help noticing our friendly alien checking out a strange portal implanted in his left arm as he wrote a couple of symbols & strange hieroglyphs. He smiled with his many eyes as he softly told me, “Bad weather ahead.”

Written by Neil Joseph

Neil Joseph is a member of the HEMS (Health Equity Mainstreaming Strategy) group of Public Advisers(PAs), and PA Co-Lead, Implementation and Capacity building Team (IMPaCT)

Neil Joseph has been a Public Adviser with ARC, and previously CLAHRC NWC for over 7 years.
He is currently contributing to:

• Air Quality Action Planning for Community Engagement (EPHC/Lancaster University)

• Groundswell. Access to underused Green & Blue Spaces. (Consortium)

• ARC NWC’s “IMPaCT” Theme. (Joint PA Co Lead) (UCLAN)

• ARC NWC’s PA Governance Sub Group (University of Liverpool)