“The basic income is a big idea with a pedigree. It owes its roots to Thomas Paine, the 18th-century radical, who in 1797 proposed paying all 21-year-olds a £15 grant funded through a tax on landowners.” (Guardian newspaper, 19 February 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/19/basic-income-finland-low-wages-fewer-jobs)

Tom Paine was a renegade revolutionary whose works such as “Common Sense”, “The Rights of Man” and “The Age of Reason” supported republicanism and democracy. For more on Tom Paine, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine.

This brilliant song was written by Dorset songwiter Graham Moore and I first came across it via a recording by Dick Gaughey. I’ve stuck fairly closely to Dick’s version of the song.