Written for another purpose

and sadly still appropriate

When I first wrote Cost Of Living, it was intended entirely as an anti-Tory diatribe - covid mismanaged, lack of care for the working class, for the disabled, the poor, a scream against the ethic cleansing the Tories were carrying out to make themselves richer and Britain purer.

When Labour won the UK General Election in July 2024, I thought I’d not be able to use it again, that it would have no place on the album I’m still intending to put together, that I could consign it to the past as something of its time, a polemic that would no longer be needed.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

This last week, Labour has gone ahead with what it calls reforms which will so badly affect the ill and disabled, and the out of work, that millions more people will be below the poverty threshold, that it’s obvious that the Cost Of Living for those people will just continue to rise, and kill them. I’m bereft by the betrayal of these people by a party whose guiding principle always was to support those less fortunate than others.

Where are the taxes on the super-rich? Where is the will to stand up against Trump’s fascism and tariffs which will make the economic situation even worse if it goes unchecked? Where is the commitment to rejoin the European Union which would be one of the surest ways to regenerate economic growth in the UK?

The worst thing about these austerity measures the Labour government is implementing, and there is no other word but austerity for them, is that they will drive voters in their droves to the parties of the Far Right. Add to this that Labour continues to demonise immigrants rather than welcoming them, and the horrendous picture is complete. Labour will not have a second term in power if it carries on this way.

Ironically, it’s now a year to the day that BBC Radio 6 Music played out Cost Of Living, with Tom Robinson describing it as “a coldly furious diatribe,” a moment that meant so much to me because it felt like my voice was finally being heard. At this moment, I just feel sad and betrayed that the song is as appropriate now as it was then - and a year is a long time in politics and life.

If you want to own a copy of the track, you can get it from my bandcamp account.

Cost Of Living 

Here
Here’s the real cost of living

These dead
In their cold houses
In their ambulances
In their hospitals
Their fire engines
Their post vans
Their trains
Their homesless tents
Their tentless homes
Their immigration centres
Their small boats
Their cold streets
Their food banks
Their starvation
Their disease

The real cost of living
The real cost of living

No public service
No public service broadcasting
No independent news
No education
No living wage
Epidemics
Pandemics
Failing healthcare

Here
Here’s the real cost of living

Profits
In billions
Public lies
Overflowing gutters
Sewage in seas
Seas in drinking water
Governments breaking the law
These dead
Try to save lives
Do their duty
But duty doesn’t pay

The real cost of living
The real cost of living

Ghettoes next to palaces
Gates where streets should be
Castles where hospitals should be

Here
Here’s the real cost of living

These dead
In piles
In their mortuaries
In their uniforms
In their PPE
In their stiffened poses
In their body bags
In their cold houses
In their ambulances
In their hospitals
Their homeless tents
Their tentless homes
Their immigration centres
Their small boats

The real cost of living

Ghettoes
Palaces
Gates
Body bags