I’m tired of this myth of ‘choice’

I’m tired of this myth of ‘choice’ that says

We have to voice our preference for a school

Or shop around for fuel to heat our homes

And cook our meals. And I don’t want to deal with

Competition, guile and clout or frustration fed on doubt

For my children’s education or well-being. I just

Want my nearest school to be as good as all the rest

For no child to be betrayed nor any parent left bereft

Because they can’t afford to buy a private ‘best’.

And you can ditch that empty pitch of ‘switching’

As the glitch of penalties inhibits changes

Of supplier –

And the competition bit you hail:

Your holy grail,

Propels the billing ever higher.

Surely for the Common Good,

There are some services that should be owned

By everyone and deemed as assets to have pride in

Not on loan to profiteers. Lord, when you think of all

The years, the wasted money and resources and

Imagine how much better off we’d be now if

The stinking troughs of Thatcher and the PFIs of Blatcher

Had just never been begun…