Something We Should All Be Ashamed Of
Oxfam's report into poverty in the U.K, found here is something that I think everybody should read and digest. It doesn't make comfortable reading that the fifth richest economy in the world, recent events notwithstanding, should see one in five of its citizens below the generally accepted measurement of poverty.
Poverty can of course be measured by various means but the report highlights the way in which poverty in the reports context has been defined. We find ourselves, some ninety years after the first insurance scheme for unemployment came into existence, in a situation where there people in the U.K who have no disposable income whatsoever - their meagre income (whether benefits or wages) allowing them (if allowing is the right word) only the opportunity to pay for lighting and heating with food as an afterthought. The gap between the comparatively well off and those who are without has never been wider and is growing. It is not only about poverty though, it is about associated health issues such as depression, dental problems and other health issues which are directly linked to poverty.
We live in an age where greed, fraud and corruption are, for some of those sitting in the higher echelons of our financial and political institutions part of the 'game' and where getting caught is, to paraphrase the judge sentencing Norman Stanley Fletcher in Porridge, "seen as an occupational hazard." For those who have to make what are literally life affecting decisions on a daily basis, the phrases 'Ponzi Schemes,' 'Quantitative Easing,' and ' Fiscal Prudence,' have a hollow ring to them.
We have let these people down big time. We have allowed this country to become the dumping ground for all the world's misfits, waifs and strays, political nutjbobs, health tourists, asylum seekers, attention seekers, proto anarchists, wet liberals, Rwandan criminals, would be terrorists and fraudsters whilst ignoring the plight of those who really need help.
The problem is I can't see the situation improving in the long term. We have an NHS which has a record surplus and yet forecasts a loss for the next financial year, a budget deficit that is beyond most sane people's comprehension and a Government that issues new initiatives almost as frequently as Jacqui Smith finds new expense receipts. Twelve years of Labour has driven one in five of our population into poverty and I know that the current economic situation is causing problems beyond the economic with people being diagnosed with post traumatic stress and depression as their businesses collapse around them, in many cases through no fault of their own. I can't believe the Conservative Party will do any better from next summer, they have traditionally been the party that encourages people to stand on their own two feet and it's hard to imagine them taking money away from their core vote through higher taxation to a) cure the current financial crisis and b) help those who need help the most and yet can't help themselves.
5 comments:
It's a bit of a poser isn't it....apart from teh fact that DC and Co seem left wing compared to Brown et al...The Conservative Party ahve a "Broken Society" policy/agenda, bascially about being compassionate re the vulnerable in society, which is, as many will tell you, a part of "traditional Conservatism". I wonder what social and politiacl historians will make of the fact that the party that introduced the noble sounding Human Rights Bill (incorporated into UK law for the first time...I know this as I was arguing with Scotsgait on the MB about it!) has made big noises about almost everything including tough on crime, its causes, education x 3, 24hrs to save the NHS, but done almost nothing of real note and understand even less....I'm rambling, hope it makes sense.
You usually make sense Span. I find the whole changing attitude towards politics, social welfare, society fascinating - perhaps that's why I did Sociology O Level! It fascinates me that a couple of generations who have grown up since the start of the Welfare State now regard it as a tradition and something that must be preserved at all costs. I think society changes - we are the first generation in many that have not suffered war or disease on the home front and yet we have social issues which are almost as bad.
'Traditional' Labour voters (i.e the white working class) feel betrayed but that's more about being disenfranchised than anything else, the old big 4 supporters of the Labour Party (Steel, Ship Building, Railway and Coal) no longer exist. Conservative voters firmly believe in the 'we look after ourselves' but hope that society will be there to help them if needed - that's my experience.
Yes, Paul, but didn't someone once say that "there's no such thing as society"?
My response to recent events is to make a couple of posts on my blog. One silly, one serious.
It seems we're all cheesed off with the country ay the moment.
"there's no such thing as society"?...ahem...don't get me going! How come when John Kennedy says "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" everyone creams their pants but when Maggie says something similar it's evil death shit with acid topping?
You're right Shy and I think Span that the big difference between the U.S.A and the U.K is that the former doesn't have sixty years of welfare state in its history.
I was surprised at Mrs T's comments in Woman's Own because I thought if you took her 'self determination' stance done to micro level it means that everybody comes together with one goal, which is quite socialist or as Span puts it 'traditional conservatism.' Her quote has been taken as meaning everybody for themselves which was seen as an invitation to the 'greed is good' ethos of the 80's.
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