They said it would inspire a generation
To run and to jump and to swim.
They promised it would motivate our youngsters
And the fight against obesity would begin.

But the statistics tell a very different story
Of a nation getting fatter by the day.
Gove abolished the school-sports partnerships
And now the children have nowhere to play.

It was an act of ideological vandalism
Blatantly ignoring what the experts had to say.
In a failed attempt to save a few million,
Slashing services is the old Tory way.

They imagined that a bucket full of Olympic medals
That cost over ten billion to win,
Would somehow revitalise the nation
But that was just a bucket load of old Tory spin.

The real situation is far more complex than they imagined.
More difficult than a 10,000 metre race.
It’s more like competing in the heptathlon
Multiple factors that all interlace.

We should start with our immoral food industry
That fill us daily with fat, sugar and salt.
Until our governments regulate these corporates
Our expanding waste-lines will never come to a halt.

Education alone is not the answer
The food industry is cunning as hell.
They pretend that what they sell us is healthy
Manipulating children with a relentless hard-sell.

But the stuff that they trick us into buying
Is as toxic and as lethal as drugs.
Sugar is now the new tobacco
But the corporates continue to treat us like mugs.

In addition to food regulation
We have a crisis in funding our youth.
The argument against government austerity
Is re-emerging as an old Keynesian truth.

If we don’t invest in nurturing our children
To be healthy at home and at school,
Then the outcome will be greater obesity
Youth investment must become the new rule.

Grassroots sports are hopelessly underfunded
One-off initiatives are never the way.
It takes long term planning and resources
And local people should have the last say.

Sports clubs need serious long term funding
No more jumping and diving through hoops.
The school-sports partnerships need rebuilding
No more listening to Tory men in grey suites.

Safe cycle tracks may be part of the answer
And football pitches that are usable all year.
And the price at the leisure centre facilities
Must be cheaper, of that I am clear.

Sure, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis
Are sporting role models to whom we can easily relate.
But the majority of Britain’s private school Olympians
Are a million miles from the local estates.

What is needed is a complete reorientation
Towards a system that nurtures our health
An Olympian effort to revitalise our communities
And stop the food corporates killing us by stealth.

So as the months and the years pass before us
And the Olympic memories rapidly fade,
What is certain is that with more government inaction
For our children a heavy price will be paid.

And the only sport that our youngsters will excel in
Will be street fighting, gang against gang.
And all the platitudes about Olympic legacies
Will be consumed in the Obesity Big-Bang.