1. Publish the income of state leaders.
2. Recognise that campaigns against spiritual pollution are wrong.
3. Stop press censorship.
4. Affirm that Hu Yaobang’s views on democracy and freedom are correct.
5. End the restriction on demonstrations.
6. Provide objective coverage of demonstrations in the media.
7. Increase funding for education.

Hu Yaobang’s funeral took place in April. A hundred thousand students came to protest at Tiananmen Square. During the funeral inside the Great Hall, students called for an official to address them.

None came out.

Two days later, rioting broke out in Changsha and Xian.

A few days after that, another 100,000 students marched to Tiananmen Square. A million Beijing residents demonstrated in solidarity. They brought troops in. Armies came from every direction into Beijing. They shot expanding bullets. They expand inside the body to create a bigger wound.

Tank man stands in front of the tanks – now.

One tries to go around him and he stands in its way again.

He climbs up onto the tank to talk to the man driving it – human to human.

Ivor sits in silence.

Telly on mute.

Tears.

It is all wrong, what is going on in this world, what people do to other people.

He pulls a blanket up over Rhona. Her face is too thin. They stopped her benefits again and he can’t get any if he’s not attending job interviews in daylight. It’ll be bar work he’ll have to do probably. What else? Esme is existing mostly on shoplifted Pop Tarts and Ovaltine. Gas will be off soon. They’ve had to jack the leccy meter. Meter man came to read it and they had to run the hairdryer, Hoover and all the lights for three days to try and bring the figures down or he would have known they’d been jacking in to put lots of free electricity on their box.

His heart feels faint.

Sun is coming.

The same dread he feels every day. He knows it is on its way.

He carries the bairn through to her bed and tucks her in. She is wearing her reversible Mickey Mouse pyjamas from Ingliston Market. Rhona took her there last week. She said the bairn all but died and went to heaven when they did the one o’clock fashion show next to the burger van!

He wants to go down to the Scotsman for a pint before dawn but he can’t even afford that.

Switch off the telly.

He hates all of it!