The Politics of the Christmas Number One

Tomorrow, the UK's Christmas Number One for 2021 will be revealed.  This year, apparently, it is a two horse race between Ladbaby and more of their inane sausage roll bollocks and, well, The Kunts, with 'Boris Johnson is Still a Cunt'.  I think you can guess which one I'm rooting for.  A lot of the media, though, will be backing Ladbaby, not just because they can at least print or broadcast their name and song title, but because, hey, it's for charity.  I'm always suspicious of 'charity' records - it is always questionable exactly how much of the proceeds from charity actually go to charity and the motives of those involved are always questionable.  Let's not forget that Jimmy Savile evaded scrutiny for decades because, as his defenders kept telling us, 'he does a lot for charity'.  With regard to Ladbaby, apparently, while they (or their company) have made over a million since starting to put out their annual Christmas charity records, they've still to raise a million for charity.  Hmmm.  I've never liked them - they always put too much stress on the charity side of things, ('Yeah, our songs are infantile shit, but if you don't buy them and give something decent and worthwhile the Christmas Number One spot, you'll be depriving all those poor people of money'), and spend too much time trying to project that fake 'Hey look at us, we're whacky!' vibe.  Now, it seems that I'm vindicated in my dislike of them.

You can tell that they are worried about the threat posed by The Kunts, as they've been decrying them for being too political and too negative, while presenting themselves as apolitical, just wanting to help the poor by raising money for food banks.  Except that the very existence of food banks is a deeply political issue - they wouldn't have to exist in such numbers and support so many people, even working people, if not for the economic policies of successive Tory governments.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising the work of the Trussel Trust, for whom Ladbaby are ostensibly raising money, but the fact is that they shouldn't have to be providing food banks.  Poor relief should not be left to charity: it should be a basic function of government.  But then poverty, even amongst the employed, shouldn't be at such high levels.  It all comes back to the Tory government.  Furthermore, despite what Ladbaby seem to think, popular culture should be political - it should always be offering a critique of the milieu that produces it.  Indeed, their failure to question the need for the charity they purport to be supporting is political.  So yeah, I guess that I'm saying that I hope The Kunts get the Christmas Number One tomorrow.  Mind you, if they do, don't expect them to be interviewed on the Radio One Chart Show, let alone have their record played.  A decision which, while it will undoubtedly be justified on grounds of taste and decency, will itself be political.