“Deport First And Hear Appeals Later”

Land of ungratefulness, land of misrule,
Whose voice is resentment, whose actions are cruel,
Whose policy is to traumatize, whose enemy is hope,
It’s a hostile environment and a slippery slope.

Kamal dreams of living in his daddy’s house in Brum
But he’s locked up in Yarl’s Wood with his sister and mum.
“Oh we recognize it’s desirable to reunite kith and kin
But it’s a hostile environment and you ain’t coming in.”

Nicolette has run her café since 1994.
Now if she can’t find a pile of paperwork they’ll show her the door.
“Yeah we know you’ve paid your tax all these 25 years
But it’s a hostile environment so what’s with the tears?”

Cherry last saw Trinidad when she was just five.
In her seventies now, she sees a prison-van arrive.
“As you appear to have no passport let us make you aware
That it’s a hostile environment and your home is back there.”

Land of ungratefulness, land of misrule,
Whose voice is resentment, whose actions are cruel,
Whose policy is to traumatize, whose enemy is hope,
It’s a hostile environment and a slippery slope.

Click here for a version recorded at home, September 2019

Click here for a version performed by Hugh Miller, July 2020

Click here for a version performed by Matt Blick, April 2021

Duty of Care

Boss number one, he’s on your case,
Boss number two, he just don’t like your face,
Boss number three, he knows,
He knows you can’t say no and so the workload grows and grows.
They don’t care anything about the place you’ve been.
They don’t care anything about the state you’re in.

And your mates can see but what can they do?
Yeah they can see the pressure piling up on you.
Head office say…
Well, head office say they need you back at work today, okay?
They don’t care anything about the place you’ve been.
They don’t care anything about the state you’re in.

Compassionate leave request refused,
But here’s some leaflets you can read if you’re confused.
Boss number four, he now wants more and more,
He’s put you down for Sundays, same pay as before.
Or there’s the door.
They don’t care anything about the place you’ve been.
They don’t care anything about the state you’re in.

Click here for a version recorded at home, January 2019

Their Front Pages

A song about the Tory war on decency and the Tory rags that fan the flames.

Express Migrant children 01

Their Front Pages

What’s the latest front-page lie?
What packs a tabloid punch?
700,000 “foreign” kids are claiming free school lunch!
They demonize the weak and poor,
There’s no empathy, there’s no shame,
And when they call this Austerity it’s a cull by another name.

Let’s have Princess Di and Maddie stories
From your wretched servile hacks
And never mind the foodbanks, never mind the bedroom tax.
They’ll means-test this, they’ll means-test that
And then reject your claim
Cos when they call this Austerity it’s a cull by another name.

Give us “Rule Britannia” headlines
And then call us lazy shirkers.
Blame Europe, blame the unions, and let’s blame the migrant workers.
Make the old and sick jump through endless hoops
In a twisted hopeless game
Cos when they call this Austerity it’s a cull by another name
And when they call this Austerity it’s a cull by another name.

Click here for a version recorded at home, October 2017

Click here for a version on SoundCloud