Written and recorded during UK lockdown, March 2020.

The UK General Election result back in December was obviously a huge body-blow for many of us – not least those who want to believe that positive or progressive change in society is still possible, and that we aren’t just content to settle for “business as usual” or some vision of Britain which takes us back to decades that have rightly long-passed. Perhaps worse still, a victory for the Tories is not just a victory for outmoded, stale thinking and the status quo – it’s also a victory for the lumbering behemoth of capitalism, and how we’re expected to all merrily go about our lives under its omnipresent boot-heel.

I was thinking recently about how the lockdown has essentially brought into focus many of the worst aspects of this – while also potentially offering a window into an alternative version of reality which might actually provide hope for the future. We are told time and again that there simply “isn’t the money” or the desire for widespread societal transformation – yet here we suddenly are. The evidence is stark: the NHS is finally the #1 national focus and priority. Lower-paid workers previously looked down upon for being “unskilled” are now classed as “essential”. Shelter has been provided for the homeless. CO2 emissions have been slashed. Violent crime is down. Kindness and compassion are the new norm. And then there’s the Government essentially providing a form of Universal Basic Income – meaning that many people have the space to either be creative or pursue the things that may ACTUALLY motivate and interest them without the distraction of “having” to go to work.

We therefore have serious questions to answer at the end of all this about the way we want to live going forward. Are we going to accept what we have been told simply “is” or “isn’t” possible? Although we hear repeatedly that we live in “unprecedented times” and that our present circumstances are unique, evidently all it ever required was the requisite political will. And although obviously the surrounding context is not something any of us would have wished for, we may still care to take a good hard look at some of the transformations we’ve seen over the past few months, and ask ourselves whether we would be content to see many of them blithely rescinded once this is all over. I say this not because the worst is still to come (though let’s not kid ourselves: the economic fallout of this crisis will likely bring several years of abject misery), but because improbably – PERVERSELY, even - in many respects, we may honestly have never had it so good.

…All a bit fucking much to try and cram into 70 seconds, to be honest - much less make it all rhyme in the process - so probably best to just take this as our homage to one of the greatest punk bands of all-time instead. Sincere apologies to Ian MacKaye, Brian Baker, Jeff Nelson, Lyle Preslar for getting dragged into it – in tribute to the Tories and their inbuilt brand of personal virulence, we’ve titled this one ‘Major Threat’.