Currie v Jones: Do people go hungry in Britain?

Alex Hern reports on Edwina Curries shocking comments on poverty in Britain

Disgraced former Conservative minister Edwina Currie continues to insist that no one in the UK  is ever starving, even after spending three hours last night in a food bank in Birmingham being told just that.

The event was held in response to comments made by Currie on Radio 5 last month.

At the time, Currie said:

“Are you telling me people in this country are going hungry? Seriously? Seriously? Do you know, I really have great difficulty believing that.”

I don’t think people in this country go hungry. But are these people at the same time maybe buying the odd lottery ticket? Do they just occasionally have the odd cigarette? Somewhere along the line does food come as the first priority?”

The public-and-panel event arranged this night was largely three hours of Currie, famous for destroying the British egg market, sleeping with John Major, and saying that “good Christians” wouldn’t get aids, arguing with people in poverty about whether they were in poverty. You can listen to the whole debate here.

One highlight, however, was blogger and author Owen Jones, who took Currie to task throughout the night; Jones’s opening comments are embedded below, and are well worth listening to:

Owen Jones (mp3)

The case of Mark and Helen Mullins is indeed a tragedy; they recorded a video earlier this year, explaining the troubles they were having, and it makes for difficult viewing:

Edwina Currie claims she knows about the Mullins. If she does, and insists in perpetuating her lies, she is more than just humorously out of touch; she is actively contributing to a repetition of their tragedy.

See also:

We need a new approach to tackling fuel povertyMatthew Lockwood, November 9th 2011

The coalition is actively increasing child povertyFelicity Dennistoun, October 11th 2011

ESA cuts will exacerbate poverty and remove help for disabledNeil Coyle, March 8th 2011

All in the family? Putting intergenerational poverty into perspectiveDeclan Gaffney, April 8th 2011

Warnings of generation lost to povertyEd Jacobs, February 23rd 2011

83 Responses to “Currie v Jones: Do people go hungry in Britain?”

  1. Newsbot9

    Of course, because people carry stickers which indicate their status. Alternatively, you’re a Little Englander who is labelling anyone who looks differently from you as inferior. Hm!

    There. Are. No. Jobs. What part of that don’t you understand? And scrap the benefits system…great. Five million or so corpses will quickly turn Britain into a sewer of disease, while gangs looking for food fight it out with police. A wonderful world you want!

    “£186 to live on after rent and bills? ”

    £65 from which bills need to be paid, and with the way HB works, you’re usually paying a proportion of your rent from it as well. You live in an unreal world, of course.

  2. Newsbot9

    “Now, I’m not saying there are some who really are struggling to put food on the table”

    Yes, you are. You’re extrapolating from a family found to be an hate piece on the poor.

    And sure, why should people eat? Let em stave! It’s not like they’re HUMAN, after all!

    I see, you’re a social darwinist.

  3. Newsbot9

    I see, so, despite the fact I’m working and struggle to eat, paying £3/month for my share of the broadband, which I REQUIRE to work is a luxury. I see. And the PAYG mobile I REQUIRE for my work to receive calls? A luxury.

    (My PC? A Celeron laptop from 2004)

    Pets? Nope. Car? Nope. And I’m quite typical – poverty is COMMON.

    Beans? Moderately *expensive*. Bread? Expensive, AND it goes off. You have no concept of what it’s like to be poor, you’re a fine example of the nasty party.

  4. Newsbot9

    5% flat rate? Nope, no money to enforce anti-fraud laws. Companies would run riot. It’s Somalia writ large.

    And of course you’re all for this, Ancap, as well as physical violence towards the left. Typical of your kind.

  5. Newsbot9

    You don’t have a clue, and it shows. Many, many people go hungry, like me (and I work). Food banks are overwhelmed by genuinely needy people.

    You’re lapping up a hate piece based on a single TV show and attacking the poor. The degree of hatred you have is genuinely frightening, simply because you’re too arrogant to ask for the help which is avaliable.

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