Pay Up, Pay Up, and Pay Again ! (Vitaï Lamenta)

"what does the middle class feel about becoming the milch cow for a Tory government ?" (Jeremy Paxman, Newsnight 18 May)

"We feel the Hand of History on our gonads, squeezing very hard" (Tory MP)

Vitaï Lamenta

There’s a breathless hush, twas a close-fought fight
No.10 gained in a famous win.
A bumpy economy, money tight -
Bad; but at last our man is in.
And it’s not coalition that sticks in the throat
Or the selfish hope of avoiding pain
But History’s Hand on the tax-payer’s scrote -
'Pay up! pay up! and pay again!'

The exchequer’s books are sodden red,
Red with the ink of a bank that’s broke;
And Darling's out; New Labour dead;
And Mandelson gone in a puff of smoke.
The river of debt has wrecked the banks,
As Brown skulks off with blackened name
And the tax-payer hears, as Sterling tanks-
'Pay up! pay up! and pay again!'

These are the words that year by year,
Whenever a Chancellor’s plans are set,
Everyone who pays tax must hear,
And none that hears it can forget.
This they must all – yes, each man must
Bear through life like a ball and chain,
And cursing Brown for his boom and bust
'Pay up! pay up! and pay again!'

(apologies to Henry Newbolt)

ND


photo (c) N.Drew 2010