Yesterday's Metro (23/10/13) reports the following from former Tory Prime Minister John Major:
“As for not supporting Britain's impoverished, the Tory added: "They are the dignified poor, or near poor. To the shame of decades of politicians, and I include myself in this, there are still millions and millions of them. Nearly 100 years ago, Lloyd George promised homes fit for heroes. Today, many live in tower blocks, estates and slums that frankly are fit for no one."
That's a rare admission of failure from a politicians, but there's little chance of anything be done about it. Both the Tories and Labour have realised that bashing the poor, dignified or undignified, deserving or undeserving, is a potential vote-winner. In any event, besides the reserve army of labour, capitalism has always had a pool of unemployables of at least 10 percent of the population. No government is ever going to divert resources to improve their condition as they are of no use to the capitalist economy. The most they''ll do is maintain them at some arbitrary "poverty level".
But to give Major his due he is probably sincere as, unlike most Tory leaders, he didn't come from a privileged background (according to Metro he is "the son of a trapeze artist and seller of garden gnomes"). Which is why the present Tory leaders are probably laughing up their sleeves at his naivety. Our question to the Conservative party is who are the undignified undeserving poor? And why is this Victorian notion of morality being resurrected.
“As for not supporting Britain's impoverished, the Tory added: "They are the dignified poor, or near poor. To the shame of decades of politicians, and I include myself in this, there are still millions and millions of them. Nearly 100 years ago, Lloyd George promised homes fit for heroes. Today, many live in tower blocks, estates and slums that frankly are fit for no one."
That's a rare admission of failure from a politicians, but there's little chance of anything be done about it. Both the Tories and Labour have realised that bashing the poor, dignified or undignified, deserving or undeserving, is a potential vote-winner. In any event, besides the reserve army of labour, capitalism has always had a pool of unemployables of at least 10 percent of the population. No government is ever going to divert resources to improve their condition as they are of no use to the capitalist economy. The most they''ll do is maintain them at some arbitrary "poverty level".
But to give Major his due he is probably sincere as, unlike most Tory leaders, he didn't come from a privileged background (according to Metro he is "the son of a trapeze artist and seller of garden gnomes"). Which is why the present Tory leaders are probably laughing up their sleeves at his naivety. Our question to the Conservative party is who are the undignified undeserving poor? And why is this Victorian notion of morality being resurrected.
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