“Constructive candour”, Rishi says
What on earth does he mean?
I’ll tell the whole truth, nothing but
So long as my hands are kept clean
He says he’s very sorry
For what happened to you
But as for what he’s sorry for
We’re left without a clue
Meet the new boss, backs the old boss
The pundits are surprised
That he blames all the science
“We were just badly advised”
“Constructive candour”, Rishi says
We know just what that means
Not the whole truth, nothing but
Just keeping his hands clean
The dead can’t hear your apologies
The dead can’t see your sly smile
The dead can’t hear you blaming them
Like some oversized child on trail
The dead can’t see the messages
You accidentally lost
The dead can’t ask you questions
But the dead know just the cost
Of your lackadaisical attitude
Your laissez-faire approach
The meetings you weren’t bothered by
The rules with which you did not comply
The business-as-usual you deny
The herd immunity you tried to apply…
The dead can’t hear your apologies
But the survivor understands
There’s blood on your hands
The umpire ruffles his hair, raises a finger
The elderly batsman shuffles off
Supressing a cough
Two world wars and one world cup
Looty, Queen Vic’s Chinese pup
The Parthenon Marbles, Rosetta Stone
The ring that Tipu Sultan owned
The Benin Bronzes, here to view
And we’ve got Tipu’s tiger too
Maori heads, the Koh-I-Noor
The Maqdala manuscripts and more
Stuff looted by the Nazis
During World War Two
The seeds of Hevea brasiliensis
And Lander’s Yoruba stool
The Admonition of The Instructress
To the Court Ladies scroll
A tribal warrior’s shield
Said to contain his soul
Moai taken from Rapa Nui
Paintings from the Tang Dynasty
The wine cup of Shah Jahan
A statue of a Luohan
Which is tri-coloured and glazed
Taken from a Yizhou cave
The collection also contains
A variety of human remains
Which probably should be given back
Under the Human Tissues Act
But Britain’s giving nothing up
Two world wars and one world cup
Steve White & The Protest Family 