He first arrived on our shores a feisty and controversial new voice from the British folk scene, talking politics armed only with his fascist-killing guitar and asking of the Colonies a musical question: Which Side are You On?

At Carleton University's Porter Hall, the one-man-band and one-time punk regaled the newly converted with a concert that was equal parts music and spoken word.

And through words and music, this singer-songwriter weaved fantastic tales of a World Turned Upside Down -- warning us of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's plot to control America's airwaves, of warmongering bedfellows at the White House and 10 Downing St., of cunning new Conservative forces here in Ottawa. And praising Canadians for, unlike Americans, knowing how to make a decent cup of tea.

That was more than 20 years ago. And as the ever-earnest artist answers the phone at his London home, ready to discuss a welcome series of expanded reissues of his back catalogue and a corresponding return to North America, it's safe to say today's is a very different world.

Right, Billy Bragg?

"I always look forward to coming to Canada," Bragg begins. "You can get a decent cup of tea in Canada."

Okay, so one thing hasn't changed. But something that has changed is Bragg's loyalty to Britain's Labour Party. Twenty years ago, during the dark days of the Thatcher regime, Bragg and a number of likeminded musicians launched so-called Red Wedge tours in support of Labour candidates. Today, while he still professes to hold qualified optimism for the party, Bragg admits to feeling somewhat duped by the reality of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.

"I do feel betrayed about the Iraq War, yeah," Bragg says. "I supported going to Afghanistan; I could see why that was a good idea. But Iraq was so clearly not only illegal but completely the wrong place.

"I think my kid could have worked out that the end result of going to Iraq would be a more powerful Iran. There is a new Middle East being forged, but it's not the one that we would want, in which issues must be resolved -- such as the issue about the Palestinian homeland. Those issues aren't helped by the Iraq War.

"There's a lot of cynicism out there about politics. In Britain, you're more likely to meet people who no longer care at all and who hate all politicians. Participation is down. In my hometown, Labour voters are voting for the (far-right) British National Party in local council elections.

"The politics of cynicism, I think, are a greater danger to us than conservatism and capitalism. You can't argue with a cynic; they've got all the answers. They've given up. And for someone like myself who believes, ultimately, in humanity, cynicism is corrosive."

Bragg, who has spent more than two decades fighting the good fight, is not about to let cynicism get the better of him. And, as always, he's determined to bring others to his world-wary camp. So passionate is he, in fact, about today's political world he recently penned a book, The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging, in an effort to stave off the rise of intolerance at home.

"When the British National Party started winning seats in my hometown I realized I needed to do something more than just write a few songs about it," Bragg explains. "We all really need to get to grips with this issue."

"The arguments about belonging and about the issue of multiculturalism versus 'Britishness' are really creating a lot of division at the moment. The (British) government is about to launch a commission on the issue of integration, and everyone's concerned that what they really mean is assimilation -- that they're just going to go around and ask Muslims, 'Why can't you be more British?' "

Bragg, nonetheless, refuses to abandon hope when it comes to the Labour Party with whom he has long been so closely associated. Nor is the singer-songwriter-orator-author about to give in to cynicism.

"I'm still doing this because I refuse to give up and become cynical about Labour while they're in power," Bragg says. "I find people I can work with and I work with them.

"I opposed them on the Gulf War, but I worked with them on House of Lords reform. And in that sense, my attitude to Labour hasn't changed since Red Wedge. During Red Wedge, we supported the Labour Party when we could and we criticized them when we had to. They didn't like that, but that was the deal. And I remain the same, in that sense."

Even if the world around him has changed.