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:
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 poverty – Matthew Lockwood, November 9th 2011
• The coalition is actively increasing child poverty – Felicity Dennistoun, October 11th 2011
• ESA cuts will exacerbate poverty and remove help for disabled – Neil Coyle, March 8th 2011
• All in the family? Putting intergenerational poverty into perspective – Declan Gaffney, April 8th 2011
• Warnings of generation lost to poverty – Ed Jacobs, February 23rd 2011
83 Responses to “Currie v Jones: Do people go hungry in Britain?”
M-bowen2
I work for a charity that supports older people, some of those on benefits need to see how our clients live, before moaning that they are poor! They dont seem to grasp the meaning of the word. They are only poor in attitude. I am often humbled by our clients resilience and bravery to make the best of things.
Mr Roshan
@leftfootfwd @owenjones84 Outnumbered in own home! http://t.co/rS9gAggD Anecdotes do not equal facts. No proof people die of #starvartion
Lady
I fully agree with Edwina Currie , nobody is going hungry in this country. those who call themselves poor have wide screen plasma Tv, sky, computer ganes, mobiles and nice desginer clothes and what not. they can afford to have a dog, cat and other pets. how can they afford to have that. they think they children should get everything they ask for. they have foreign holiday. these ladies can afford to have beauty treatments. They do not want to work, for generations they are on benefits.
I worked for 40 years never claimed any benefits.. i do not have holidays. i do not have posh things in my house. Now I am oap and in poor health. I need help but I am not getting any help from any where.In do not even know how to ask for help.
dchappie
The family shown on The One Show were an indication of the sort of warped priorities some people have in the UK. They can find £15 per week to feed the family dog, but not the money to feed the kids? They live in a lovely house with all mod cons, but can’t find a way to cut back and live within their means? And they have the idea that one has to be happy in a job to feed the family, while accepting handouts, through taxes, from those who do exactly that?
I agree with Edwina on this one. Now, I’m not saying there are some who really are struggling to put food on the table, or who have to choose between food or fuel, but as the item showed, there are food charities able to help. But quite why the family featured in the item is receiving food from those charities is beyond me – get real, and either get a job to pay your way and feed your kids, and/or lose the family pets that you clearly cannot afford to keep and spend the money on food for the family.
Welfare and charity are supposed to be for those in need, not for those who choose to live a certain way that means benefits get spent on non-essentials. And I’m sorry to say, as much as I love animals, that includes pets.
Ann
This is so true,good for Edwina for stirring things up a bit. When are the government going to realise that the working people of this country are sick of keeping these parasites. The welfare system is there as a safety net not a way of life