I first “signed on” after leaving school in June 1979. Obviously one was obliged to wait several weeks before receiving it and I ended up with a cheque for the princely sum of @£70. Being a naïve 16-year-old hippie I went out and bought an acoustic guitar and a Neil Young album (Harvest), with the intention of never looking back, and, apart from some brief spells at college and being in a signed band for a year, that’s the way it’s been since.
I have had to learn how to live on a pittance that has stopped growing in line with the cost of living (thanks to New Labour), and with the prejudice that has been developed by political and media campaigns over the years.
When I first signed on there was very little stigma attached to it. In general people still believed in the welfare state and it’s inherent kindness to those less fortunate. We are after all; all in this together, and there but for the grace of favour go the lot of us. But there was a new attitude amongst the upper echelons which was seeping it’s way through the rich gentrified landowners, and through their elected representatives, the Conservative party, they sought to turn man against man, not to mention woman against woman. By spurious rumour not based on fact the public would be drip fed lies – about scroungers, about unions, about hooligans, travellers, hippies, punks, socialists, the working class. The haves started to become extremely prejudiced against the have-nots, regarding them as dangerous (this feeling is based purely on fear, because, with a slight shift in circumstance, you could become one of them). (For cultural reference points here watch “Cathy Come Home” and “Boys From The Black Stuff”).In the 80’s we had to put up with the middle class looking down on us like shit on a shoe. Now everyone regards us not just as scum but also as criminals, when really we should be given a fucking medal for the shit that we have to deal with, from snotty nosed jobs-worth’s, to threats from bailiffs representing council tax/housing/landlords etc. Leave us alone – it’s not a crime to be poor.
We are not taking your hard earned pay and pissing up your backs with it. We appreciate your decency, and your kind-heartedness. We might not have your skill and your intelligence, but please don’t penalise us for it. If anyone is taking the piss it is your representatives – your councillors and your MP’s, who have cost the taxpayer billions in illegal claims and second home and travel expenses, and paid holidays and restaurant bills. We are just trying to survive and have a decent standard of living.
I still believe in the welfare state and I welcome the ideals put in place by William Beveridge during the Attlee government of the 50’s. I believe we should help those less fortunate attain a standard of living comparable to modern civilisation’s needs, and that people have a right to a modern health care and shelter and food to live on, and enough to help them to realise their potential, with financial encouragement and training in whatever they desire, and free education for all, not just those with rich parents – and I don’t think it’s too much to ask to use your taxes to pay for these things. What I do object to is the people who squeeze your hard earned cash into their own pockets and then scapegoat the poorest members of society, by trying to make you believe that these people are scum of the earth dole scroungers who don’t have any worth or value, and denying them a voice or access to the things that can help them to rise above the ranks and become “decent” members of society.
