The more I hear about the antics of the establishment the more chilling it becomes. They actively plot to prevent a Labour government. They even believed Wilson to be a Russian spy and planned a coup! Incredible.
The link to the song is at the end. Give it a listen.
The Ballad of Spycatcher – Leon Rosselson
Now listen children while I sing
this ballad I’ve just made
About a Peter (Wright, not Rabbit), a spycatcher by trade
I’ll sing of how he joined a special gang called MI5
Who guard the nation’s secrets so that liberty may thrive
And of how young Peter, quick to learn, soon got to know the ropes
The trick of picking locks
The art of opening envelopes
And of how the senior officers began their working day
By trying to solve the crossword… in The Times (needless to say) [Chorus]
But of all the strange things I’ll relate
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggerel I am singing contravenes the Rule of Free
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do [Interlude]
S.F. (Special Facility) was Peter’s favourite toy
And night and day he played with it like any little boy
For bugging rooms and tapping ‘phones were things he loved the best
‘Five years’ said Wright ‘we bugged and burgled at the state’s behest’
We bugged the Russian embassy which wasn’t very chique
So we bugged the French, the Chinese, the Egyptians and the Greek
Bugged Khrushchev’s rooms in Clarriages and listened in with care
While ‘K’ decided on his tie and how to part his hair [Chorus]
But of all the strange things I relate
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Free
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
They bugged colonial conferences
Then they turned their minds to keeping tabs on millitants
and ‘lefties’ of all kinds
Trade-unionists and studens where the targests of their whiles
They burgled C.P. member’s homes and stole the party’s files
And what did it add up to?
And what did it avail?
All this bugging and burgling and intercepting mail
Did it save us from the Russians?
Did it help to keep us free?
Did it keep this country green and pleasant?
Did it buggery!
But of all the strange things I relate
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Free
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
‘The trouble was’ said Wright ‘That we often were mislead’
‘And the Russians always seemed to be a step or two ahead’
‘For what ever MI5 knew, the Russians knew it too’
‘And when we knew they knew we knew, they knew we knew they knew’
Penkovsky, was he theirs or ours? A triumph or a con?
So back-and-forth and round-and-round the maisy dance went on
While Peter set up operations Sunshine, Pigroot, Choir
Dew-worm, Mole (what lovely names!) and saw them all mis-fire
But of all the strange things I relate
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Free
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
‘I fear the worst’ says Peter G ‘And this I can’t fogive:’
‘For years the Secret Service has been leaking like a seive’
‘The evidence is growing there is someone placed on-high’
‘Who’s tipping-off the Russians’
‘A traitor and a spy’
Was it Mitchell?
Was it Hollice (The outfit’s own D.G.)?
‘Incredible!’ I hear you say
But Wright would not agree
His finger points to Hollice
‘I’ll unmask him if I can’
‘He’s ex-public school and Oxford, and I’ve never liked the man’
And now my tales grows farcicle
And should we laugh or cry?
For the C.I.A man Angleton names Wilson as a Spy
And Cecil King in ’68 decides to lead a coup
Against the Wilson government
So strange it must be true
And certain shady businessmen asked Peter for the gen
To do the dirt on Wilson and keep him out of Number 10
And a group of senior officers tell Wright of their intent
To save us from the clutches of a Labour government
But of all the strange things I relate
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Free
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that grown-up people do
Now I haven’t time to tell you of those other dirty tricks
Like the plot to bump-off Nasser (but that was MI6)
And of how the C.I.A planned in 1965 to open up their sharky mouth
And swallow MI5 alive
But one more thing I feel that I should bring to your attention:
For all his pains poor Peter never got his propper pension
So why not buy his book yourself and do the man some good
So he can die comfort as ex-spycatchers should
But of all the things I’ve told you
The strangest thing to me
Is that this doggeral I am singing contravenes the Rule of Three
For Nanny (God bless Nanny) Thinks it wouldn’t do
For you to know about the naughty things that spycatchers do