Poet and singer Kate Tempest’s scathing attack on the state of society, directly accusing Prime Minister Theresa May of “dividing the people”.

Transcript

Strong and stable into ruin.
school kids on the hunt for lunch
cut the apron strings
at least it keeps the bastards lean
and gets the scroungers off the crouch.

Murdoch headlines
leeches for the letting of our blood lust
blame it on the migrants
suffocating in containers
blame it on the Muslims
or whichever current favourite
takes the weight
of our collective hate
and keeps the nation safe.

privatise and privatise in private
let the nurses burn,
along with every other resident who voices their concern

and yes, divide the country into will they never learn
and will they never stop
then bring the army out to guard us
tell us these sick-hearted martyrs will not test our liberal values
locked in the panopticon
where volatile and fragile
such stability

meanwhile suicide’s increasing
more rough sleepers
ugly words in public places,
fear and doubt and all the racists
have come out to show their faces.

under May there is a gulf that separates us
and it seems to gape a little wider every day
now watch her prey on every tragedy
divide, divide and frenzy up the nastiness.
the them and us
the human cost
the rising threat
we must be watched
clocked and kept and screened
and blocked
if this is strength then we’re all fucked.
but give them an inch and they’ll set up shop
“I want to create a truly hostile environment”
her words
not mine