UN to investigate extreme poverty in the UK
Discussion
esxste said:
There is extreme poverty in the UK. To deny it is to deny reality.
You can argue semantics of what definitions of poverty the UN or the Government use all you like.
I'll take you on a little walk around any large city in the UK, and you can tell me the homeless people we see are not living in extreme poverty.
So how shall we totally eradicate it and create a totally perfect society?You can argue semantics of what definitions of poverty the UN or the Government use all you like.
I'll take you on a little walk around any large city in the UK, and you can tell me the homeless people we see are not living in extreme poverty.
I'm not sure that the problem with rough sleepers is poverty so much as substance abuse, mental health and migration.
https://www.nao.org.uk/naoblog/growing-number-of-r...
There are always going to be people in those circumstances who fall through the net, as there are always going to be people who impoverish themselves and their children through bad decisions.
https://www.nao.org.uk/naoblog/growing-number-of-r...
There are always going to be people in those circumstances who fall through the net, as there are always going to be people who impoverish themselves and their children through bad decisions.
hutchst said:
I think it's a total disgrace that the idiot president in the White House is cutting the U.N. funding when you look at the really important work that they do. Why only today we learned that the secured conviction of 2 90 year old men Pol Pot assistants in Cambodia. That makes 3 in total, and it only cost $300 million. If they get a move on they might be able to sentence them before they expire from old age.
The U.N. is a laughing stock.
Do your 2 points not contradict each other?The U.N. is a laughing stock.
Edited by hutchst on Friday 16th November 16:32
How did it cost $300m to prosecute the former socialist prime minister of a country and the communist head of state? Neither were in hiding.
Both have been in prison since 2014 for Crimes Against Humanity, for the part they both played in creating the workers paradise of Kampucuchea. So sentencing them is rather academic.
Mandat said:
billshoreham said:
UN to investigate extreme poverty in the UK – after nearly a decade of austerity
thought I would leave this here so that the usual empathetic PH crew could comment.
What's the definition of extreme poverty, and why do you think austerity has caused any?thought I would leave this here so that the usual empathetic PH crew could comment.
wikipedia said:
Extreme poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, was originally defined by the United Nations in 1995 as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services."[2] In 2018, "extreme poverty" widely refers to making below the international poverty line of $1.90/day (in 2011 prices, equivalent to $2.07 in 2017), set by the World Bank.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_povertyI didn't realise the report was already written; https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/16/uk...
Prof Phillip Alston said:
...He told a press conference in London:
So no irony at all when he initially described the situation as "austerity policies driven by a political desire to undertake social re-engineering rather than economic necessity."- 'Austerity' Britain was in breach of four UN human rights agreements relating to women, children, disabled people and economic and social rights. “If you got a group of misogynists in a room and said how can we make this system work for men and not for women they would not have come up with too many ideas that are not already in place,” he said.
- The limit on benefits payments to only the first two children in a family was “in the same ballpark” as China’s one-child policy because it punished people who had a third child.
- Cuts of 50% to council budgets were slashing at Britain’s “culture of local concern” and “damaging the fabric” of society.
- The middle classes would “find themselves living in an increasingly hostile and unwelcoming society because community roots are being broken”.
Edited by andy_s on Friday 16th November 20:40
It's nonsense. Local female with 3 kids at school has never worked a day in her life and has money to burn. New house all lovely and furnished, lives a life of luxury claiming a range of benefits keeping them in total contentment. Oldest son with zero work ethic will soon be following in the family tradition.
Successive governments have encouraged this behaviour for their own reasons and they must take responsibility.
Successive governments have encouraged this behaviour for their own reasons and they must take responsibility.
Riley Blue said:
Poverty can lead to addiction and vice versa, I don't know about this particular family. How about another example, girls who can't afford sanitary products.
Last time I checked, a Tammy was about three pence each? Are you serious, or just jumping on the cliche outrage bus with your faux menstrual horror?
kurt535 said:
Some genuinely sad responses on here mocking the real poverty that exists in our country. Shame on you. It’s amazing how certain threads on PH draw scum in who revel in their assumed superiority over others.
There's lots of sad cases but to suggest that Britain has a crisis involving poverty is not true. It's too easy to avoid personal responsibility for the position you find yourself in and until your chin is languishing in the gutter it's hard to face the truth.Riley Blue said:
Poverty, especially child poverty, is no laughing matter. My O/H has dealt with it in the past and it can be heartbreaking; one boy of seven or eight was asked what would make a big change to his life. His reply, "An alarm clock because then I wouldn't be late for school and not get in to trouble." She discovered his parents were alcoholics who stayed in bed most of the time and didn't have money to feed him, it all went on booze.
So scoff away, it's a real problem even in the UK and probably not far from where you live.
That's neglect, not poverty. Poverty, as generally defined by governments and NGO's, is households with an income below 60% of the median household income. You could double everyone's income in the UK and you would not lift a single person out of ''poverty''.So scoff away, it's a real problem even in the UK and probably not far from where you live.
kurt535 said:
...real poverty...
How are you defining ''real poverty''?billshoreham said:
...nearly a decade of austerity...
That's right! A decade of brutal austerity taking us back to a level of spending last seen in, oh, 2006...
And the previous country he visiting to draw up one of his fatuous reports was the USA.
One might think that a special envoy on poverty might actually visit countries with extreme poverty, rather than trying to use the name of the UN to provide propaganda to left wing movements in the west.
Another classic case of institution capture and creating credibility for those calling on funding for the UN to be reduced or eliminated.
We are quite capable in those country of providing government funding to NGOs for them to churn out propaganda, we don't need to add another supranational entity to do the same.
One might think that a special envoy on poverty might actually visit countries with extreme poverty, rather than trying to use the name of the UN to provide propaganda to left wing movements in the west.
Another classic case of institution capture and creating credibility for those calling on funding for the UN to be reduced or eliminated.
We are quite capable in those country of providing government funding to NGOs for them to churn out propaganda, we don't need to add another supranational entity to do the same.
JagLover said:
And the previous country he visiting to draw up one of his fatuous reports was the USA.
One might think that a special envoy on poverty might actually visit countries with extreme poverty, rather than trying to use the name of the UN to provide propaganda to left wing movements in the west.
Another classic case of institution capture and creating credibility for those calling on funding for the UN to be reduced or eliminated.
We are quite capable in those country of providing government funding to NGOs for them to churn out propaganda, we don't need to add another supranational entity to do the same.
Read his wiki, well connected family in all kinds of civil service non jobs, same old. One might think that a special envoy on poverty might actually visit countries with extreme poverty, rather than trying to use the name of the UN to provide propaganda to left wing movements in the west.
Another classic case of institution capture and creating credibility for those calling on funding for the UN to be reduced or eliminated.
We are quite capable in those country of providing government funding to NGOs for them to churn out propaganda, we don't need to add another supranational entity to do the same.
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff