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Professor Philip Alston: He came to his conclusions by listening to people affected by Conservative policies on the poor, sick and disabled. Tories implemented those policies by ignoring the very same people – and now they have vowed to ignore Professor Alston.
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on poverty, Philip Alston, has said he believes the UK’s Conservative government deliberately increased poverty in the country, for ideological reasons.
He said the harm done to the poorest and most vulnerable could be reversed with very little investment; all that is needed is the political will. Sadly, we all know that a change of government will be required to achieve this.
The Tories themselves confirmed this, by stating that they do not recognise the findings of Professor Alston’s report. Clearly they will not act upon those findings either.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, he said the following:
"Open your eyes – there is very real poverty out there."
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston says there are people in the UK "living in destitution" and that "government people haven't been out in the field to see what the real circumstances are." pic.twitter.com/wb7oPhXG93
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) November 16, 2018
And this is from his verbal report:
UN Special Rapporteur says poverty is the UK's 'biggest challenge' pic.twitter.com/IGopbedq1A
— The Independent (@Independent) November 16, 2018
A wealth of material has appeared about this – mostly on the social media (and we’ll discuss the reasons for this below), so it is possible to put together a good summary of the report, the reaction to it, and wider issues from that. So here are the headlines:
Damning from the UN:
🔻14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty.
🔻4 million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line
🔻1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials.https://t.co/KOG3XwJa7g— Dr Lauren Gavaghan (@DancingTheMind) November 16, 2018
And poverty is understood as being poor, as in being short of money. It does not say anything about the strain of not knowing how to pay your bills. It destroys your health, your relationship and it robs your children of their future.
— Anita Bellows (@AnitaBellows12) November 16, 2018
Here’s the underlying implication – that the Tory government intended to create this problem for the people of the UK in order to achieve “radical social re-engineering”:
P Alston's report confirms what many campaigners have always known
He says "In the area of poverty-related policy, the evidence points to the conclusion that the driving force has not been economic but rather a commitment to achieving radical social re-engineering." Intended.— Revolution Breeze #PCPEU (@suejonessays) November 16, 2018
With the tories, austerity was never never about balancing the books but always about destroying the Welfare State to enrich the 1% and the UN report on how #Theresamay's govt treats the poor proves that. #UniversalCredit
— Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) November 16, 2018
Philip Alston: Tory austerity is ideological. "The state does not have your back any longer, you are on your own". Damning evidence from the UN envoy.
— Rachael Swindon #GTTO (@Rachael_Swindon) November 16, 2018
Professor Alston said the situation could change overnight with very little investment, if there was a different government:
UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human right said that with a new government, the situation could change overnight and with very little money
#UNVisit2018— Anita Bellows (@AnitaBellows12) November 16, 2018
But the current government is unlikely to do anything because it is in a “state of denial”:
Philip Alston, UN rapporteur, says he found ministers in a “state of denial” over poverty in the UK which he found “a major challenge” for which “not nearly enough is being done” pic.twitter.com/YwhSH9mJYG
— Anoosh Chakelian (@Anoosh_C) November 16, 2018
The UN’s rapporteur for extreme poverty & human rights:
“That 1.5 million people in the UK live in destitution is grim. The government could solve this, the money is there, but they choose not to.”
If you’re not outraged, you should be. #Austerity #ToryBritain— aleesha (@a_leesha1) November 16, 2018
The Tories response: "We don't recognise" & on WATO some Tory chap informed us that the poverty in the UK was nothing compared to countries UK supplies with financial aid. The usual trick of not comparing like with like although our poverty is now 3rd world. Truly worthwhile read https://t.co/GWMyjhvSjR
— Carole Hawkins (@hawkins_carole) November 16, 2018
It is well worth noting that Professor Alston used the words “hostile environment” to describe the Conservative government’s policies brings to mind the Windrush Scandal – and the Department for Work and Pensions, which is responsible for so many of the policies which have caused the harm, is now being run by the woman who took the rap for Windrush – Amber Rudd.
Alston has made findings which many of us are already aware of – his description of social re-engineering and the alienation of the rich from the poor in a constructed 'hostile environment' (where've we heard that before?) frankly contains all the ingredients for revolution.
— Helen Nonny Nay (@NonnyHay) November 16, 2018
The effect of Tory policies on women was highlighted by the special rapporteur:
Philip Alston UN envoy says that he thinks if you got a group of misogynistic men in a room they couldn't arrive at a better system to hit women, under current benefit system #unvisit2018
— michelle maher (@mmaher70) November 16, 2018
“If you got a group of misogynists in a room & said how can we make this system work for men & not for women they would not have come up with too many ideas that are not already in place” – Philip G. Alston: UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty & human rights #UNVisit2018 pic.twitter.com/ToZm7EY7aX
— The Agitator (@UKDemockery) November 16, 2018
This Site suggested yesterday that Esther McVey resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary, not because of Brexit but because she did not want to face the criticism she would receive from Professor Alston. In his report, he revealed that he had met Ms McVey – and her comments were alarming:
Re single household payments, Alston reveals Esther McVey told him “90% of people have joint bank accounts anyway so what’s the problem?” And women should “get counselling and if it gets really bad they should leave”
— Anoosh Chakelian (@Anoosh_C) November 16, 2018
One can see why she may not have wanted to stick around for the fallout from that. Instead, as Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell points out, they “manipulate statistics” and “refuse to accept responsibility”.
How much more evidence do the Tories need before they recognise the poverty and human suffering they have inflicted on our people? They manipulate statistics to mask this harsh brutality and refuse to accept their responsibility for hurting the poorest. https://t.co/BXNqv29c3S
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) November 16, 2018
And how do they get away with it? The answer is obvious:
Qu: Why will many people not take the UN’s excoriating report into extreme poverty in the UK as seriously as it deserves?
A: Because MSM – including BBC – has disguised or hidden the reality.
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) November 16, 2018
Please read UN report on extreme poverty in UK
It is a terrible indictment of Tories & our society more widely
Lack of proper coverage by @BBCnews of these issues is appallingBBC don’t these people count?
Imagine how you would have covered a govt mistreating well off people?
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) November 16, 2018
Excellent points. And if you think the BBC isn’t hiding important facts from you, were you aware of the following?
The Conservatives decided to cut the Allowance for disabled children in low income families by half. Conservatives decided to make poor disabled children poorer. That was their choice. #ChildrenInNeedRocks2018 #BBCChildreninNeed2018
— Bernadette Meaden (@BernaMeaden) November 16, 2018
No? Then the BBC, together with other right-wing news organisations, has been hiding the facts from us all.
We need responsible news media, holding the government to account for its actions, and a cabinet minister willing to accept the facts and act on them in the national interest.
We have been given Amber Rudd.
I said it before and I’ll say it again: This would be a farce if not for the fact that people are dying.