Oh, how we rejoiced when Tony Blair came
With his boyish good looks and firm decision
To roll back the years of the Thatcherite shame
As joy overcame the sense of derision.
We watched and we hoped and we waited to see
How our boy would resolve the problems stacked high;
Out with the snouts in the trough and me, me, me,
To establish a fairer society.
So, where would he start? But he would know,
Our knight in bright armour who had us in thrall,
He knew where we wanted to go –
Where all are for one, and one is for all.
To feelings of comfort in community strong;
Would he start in Transport or supporting our Youth?
Or peace in the world where we all belong?
Or Health, or Greenness and Environment abuse?
Education, he said, would be tackled first.
We nodded – yes, yes, it had to be said,
That was astute, the best of the worst;
Start from the top, work down from the head.
A short interlude then a jarring note played;
Some money – a million from a tobacco cartel;
But soothing words followed; trust me, be not afraid,
A subordinate error, money returned, all will be well.
A danger averted and onwards we go,
Even the promise by his deputy clown
Of an integrated transport policy show
Did not let our trust in him down.
With the reform of the Lords, an odd deal is struck,
A glimmer of doubt as we thought we detected
That time-servers and bagsmen would remain in the muck
Of an appointed Chamber, no votes here detected.
But trust surged back with the Minimum Wage
And a long overdue Devolution ably dealt
To a celebrity-crazed nation where, what was the rage
Had Tony’s sure hand on the pulse deftly felt.
But could he be just a wee bit soft
On the Press barons toting their wares?
And Big Business and Banks holding aloft
Their dodgy mis-selling and rising shares?
We chose not to believe such scurrilous tales
And we voted him back in a blaze of glory
because he told us that an initiative fails
Unless one can proceed to the end of the story.
With his magician’s touch he rode rough patches
Leading us on where we wished to believe
That the direction was sure and the few bad catches
Were soon corrected, we knew our Tony would not deceive.
Mendelson, Levy, Campbell all did his thinking
Those reptillian, blight-twisted men on display
Thrust in the limelight, warily blinking,
Shielding, protecting, wiping the filth away.
With mounting falsehoods reaching a pinnacle
We scarcely believed anymore the news,
And the lies on Iraq, so blatantly cynical
We knew that the time had come to choose.
The margin between falsehood and fact was so wide
That we came to live in a political void
With fantasy elbowing reality aside
Our trust was lost, scattered, sadly destroyed.
The shock came as a slap in the face from a loved one
Or a refusal by sportsmen to play the game,
The worst part of all that continued to stun
Was that he knew that we knew, yet showed no shame.
The Party believed us; his time was up
And the mood of the country could not be delayed.
With the devil a long spoon is needed to sup,
Revenge for the people and the Party betrayed.
Oh Tony, Oh Tony, such a jolly good fellow
As all are good fellows, in sunshine and showers,
And all will remain jolly good fellows
Until they are given too many powers.
Our liberties , he seized them, but we’ll get them back
because sunshine always follows the rain,
But who will forgive him over Iraq?
Will the mothers of those sons they’ll never see again?
September 2011