The new poverty

A half-hearted round of applause for the Evening Standard's efforts to illustrate how comprehensively this nation has been wrecked, but they've gone too far with David Cohen's latest tale of woe, a protracted bleat from a poor, poor single mother who struggles to get by in Broon's Britain.

Why does she struggle, the poor thing? Well, mainly because she's had 11 - yes, eleven - kids, by five different blokes. And, of course, every single one of these daddies has - gosh! - disappeared without trace from her life.

Ms Harriot, seen above, has been squirting out the sprogs for over 25 fucking years, since she was 19 years old.

And, possibly - just possibly - another factor that makes her 'struggle' is that in all that time she hasn't had a fucking job. Oh no, wait:

"At one point she became a teaching assistant, but she soon became pregnant again and the job didn't last"

At one point? At one point in 25 fucking years? So at every other 'point' in this woman's life, guess who's been paying for her and her vast brood? Guess who's been picking up the bills? Yes: us.

Although apparently, we don't give her enough money:

"..it's so difficult in London living off £7 per child per day. I don't drink, I don't smoke, everything goes on essentials"

Essentials? When asked where exactly the money goes, Ms H. outlines her weekly budget, which includes:

"..£20 for telephones, £3 for her TV licence, £10 for Sky .."

What? over 80 quid a month on 'phones, and over 55 quid a month on television? CF is a plump, well-paid, smug middle class git, whose wife 'n' kids all have mobile 'phones and like a bit of telly, but even he doesn't spend that much.

Well, technically, he does, because CF is one of the mugs who pays the tax that goes to pay for Ms. Harriots fucking 'phone calls and rich televisual entertainment.

So, this family is living 'in poverty', 'below the breadline' but has mobile 'phones and Sky TV? What the fuck has happened to the definition of 'essentials', eh?

Mind you, Ms. H. goes on, they "..still haven't got a computer". Still? Don't you love that little extra I-know-my-rights word? Still? Still no computer? What, after asking, and after waiting all these years? Shocking.

In spite of our abject failure to deliver Ms Harriot the computer she so richly deserves, and in spite of the fact the Ms H. struggles on the meagre amount we give her, what with the Sky and the T-Mobile bills and everything, we're still shelling out plenty:

"..the state funding her housing costs, council tax, and daily living expenses to the tune of £38,844 a year."

Nearly 39 grand? Well hoo-fucking-rah.

The whole point of this piece is to show us all how 'the State' is - boo hoo - failing people, and not doing enough for them. Not giving them computers, not giving them enough money for Sky TV and clothes. Forcing them to live in houses where they don't even have a bedroom each.

In fact what it shows is exactly the fucking opposite. The State is failing the rest of us, by taking more and more and more money from us, in more and more elaborate ways, just to piss all over people who have decided - entirely voluntarily - not to bother to get a job, but to sit in front of the telly sending text messages to each other.

For fuck's sake.

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