bring a tear to your eye

[DimPrawn]

For the "fit and healthy" the problem is malnutrition through obesity.

Too fat to walk to the fridge?

[EternalOptimist]

Poverty is relative surely. If you want to look at absolute poverty, look at my relatives. bl00dy spongers

[d000hg]

But since Maggie got in in 79 and the unions were squashed and the true value of the work the 'common man' does was revealed to not be worth that much we have been trying to send help.

But did it work, no.

Now 35 years on we now have generations of doleites who do not work, do not want to work and do not believe they have to work.

Sending more help is not working - work or starve - then lets see what happens.

HAving your livelihood - in fact the livelihood your family has known for generations - ripped away from under you with nothing to replace it, it's hardly surprising it has left a scar which hasn't yet healed.

Your Daily-Mail view of "generations of doleites" is either kind nor accurate as a generalisation. However the feelings in mining areas are of genuine hurt and disenfranchisement, these people genuinely (rightly or wrongly, it hardly matters at this point) believe they were shafted much as contractors feel they are being shafted right now. The heart of many communities were ripped out and that takes a long time to fix.

[SpontaneousOrder]

I wonder how many of those drink, smoke, have sky, mobile phones etcetc.

There is a huge amount of inequality in the UK.

BUT if you were to divide the UK wealth equally, in 6 months there would be a lot of poor people.

What I feel really sorry for is the children of the feckless.

Benefits should be paid in food vouchers. And child benefit in vouchers for child products.

That's what I think for 95% of the situation.

Food in the 21st century west is absurdly cheap.

[vetran]

HAving your livelihood - in fact the livelihood your family has known for generations - ripped away from under you with nothing to replace it, it's hardly surprising it has left a scar which hasn't yet healed.

Your Daily-Mail view of "generations of doleites" is either kind nor accurate as a generalisation. However the feelings in mining areas are of genuine hurt and disenfranchisement, these people genuinely (rightly or wrongly, it hardly matters at this point) believe they were shafted much as contractors feel they are being shafted right now. The heart of many communities were ripped out and that takes a long time to fix.

Strange all those Northerners I worked with in the 80s managed to find their bikes.