God save the queen
God save the queen cos tourists are money
And our figurehead is not what she seems
Oh God save history, God save your mad parade
Oh lord God have mercy all crimes are paid
When there’s no future how can there be sin
We’re the flowers in the dustbin
We’re the poison in your human machine
We’re the future your future
God save the queen we mean it man
There is no future in England’s dreaming
No future for you no future for me
No future no future for you
Let’s nor beat around the burning bush, if EMI wants to save their plummeting share price, (alas time is running out) opportunism suggests they re-release the anthems of my youth.
From Pretty Vacant to God Save The Queen, the lyrics seem sadly relevant as an anthem for the marauding heard rampaging as recreational looters. Gobbing punks bizarrely possessed a greater morality than the street thugs of 2011. But they share a rejection of class and privilege.
Armed with weaponised technology, mobile phones use group messaging systems like the Gutenberg press. We are seeing a set of influential events that are revolutionizing the way people perceive Brand Britain. Mobile comms have ushered in a more lethal herding mechanism. The rampant violence is etched on and off line in blood and fire. Thugs adorned in the branded leisure wear like heroic urban rappers are poisoning decent values. Sadly the younger brothers and sisters deify their sick and wanton actions.
Over the decades the lack of discipline in the classroom has fostered this pursuit of violence. There are no heroes at home or in authority. Civil society has failed to PR the values of right, wrong and public service. Cut back and the Olympic Towers of corporate Babylon miss the kids on the street.
Behind the plummeting standards of behaviour in the classroom and the lack of respect for authority among young people, the looting and rioting of the last few days proves this powder keg was set to blow. As volatile as nitro glycerine, a generation devoid of a moral compass has been ready to evoke anarchy.
Hypnotised by consumer porn, symbols of reality entertainment, toxic celebrity and derelict and morally corrupt footballing icons, their lifestyles are sought via smash and grab. Politicians of every hue seem oblivious to the reality of the age. Safe bourgeois chatter clashes failed to read the graffiti on the wall . How many published reports that consider the legacy of fewer children living without both parents do we have to ignore? It seems you really don’t need a parent when you’ve got a Xbox.
Ludicrous as it seems there is no plan to deal with the negative image of Broken Brand Britain. The inevitable is happening and like so many brand institutions that suffered at the hands of a PR meltdown, Brand UK is now in the same swill bucket as other busted brand. The tragic and horrible rioting hoard exposed the Government and Mayor of London as inefficient, naive and unprepared.
David Cameron was applying sun tan lotion in his holiday home, while the inner cities burned. Perhaps he should have spent less time on his personal PR messaging and come straight back on the first Hercules to Brize Norton to take control. The vacuum was filled by the baying mob and images of burning streets. The Met has been ineffectually pussy footing due to its brand’s recent PR failings.
Its inability to play hard ball was a result of no clear leadership from the Prime minister. What has our government learnt about the various global PR meltdowns? Toyota, News Int and BP were all ground down due to sluggish and unprepared reaction. The test is on to see how the government PRs us out of this disaster.