This is utterly shameful

I am no economist but, I do remember being told at school, back in the 50s, that when there is a welfare state, some will fall through the holes in the net. It seems to me that these days there are more holes than net.

Tweedle24

I am no economist but, I do remember being told at school, back in the 50s, that when there is a welfare state, some will fall through the holes in the net. It seems to me that these days there are more holes than net.

Very true - a difference now is that a lot of working people are also falling through the net.

Whitewavemark2

It takes a certain kind of person who being aware of the hunger children are feeling in the U.K. attempt to deflect the criticism by pointing out that other countries have poor children as well.

Ironic as well given the time of year and the age old story of The Christmas Carol.

Perhaps they would feel happier in the 19th century?

I don’t think they are comparing the poverty in other countries to excuse our own government. They are just trying to point out to those who think that only our government has got it wrong, that it is a far more widespread problem across Europe and the rest of the world.

Communism is supposed to share out the wealth evenly. If I thought that Communism worked, I would vote Communist but, we all know it does not work. We all know that after the Russian Revolution for example, the majority ended up as badly off as they were under the Romanovs. As for China, that is even worse.

I don’t pretend to have an answer but I think it is a human problem. I am not even sure there is an answer.

I suppose the answer is that UNICEF feeds all hungry children wherever they are. But they will need to receive funding to so do, so where is the funding to come from? Ourselves instead of giving to overseas aid?

Whenever foreign aid is mentioned there are numerous posts about countries where there are millionaires and a lot of corruption and how they should look after their own poor. Would anyone like to comment about this country needing aid and the corrupt/venal/self rewarding government we have here? Maybe the poor are always with us, but accepting that some have so much and others so little is simply not civilised.

UK gives UNICEF 100 million pounds annually, I am trying to find the article.

Well Rees-Mogg is complaining about unicef doing this. He sounds more out of touch every time he opens his mouth.

You beat me to it, Nezumi65. A man with personal wealth of over 100 million doesn't want UNICEF giving money to impoverished UK children.

I have no words.

GrannyGravy13

UK gives UNICEF 100 million pounds annually, I am trying to find the article.

I thought it was a charitable organisation?

I am trying to find the article, I think it said the money comes from the aid budget, but as per a lot of news it needs to be verified, will look again later (sorry have to cook dinner)

No rush?

Whitewavemark2

GrannyGravy13

UK gives UNICEF 100 million pounds annually, I am trying to find the article.

I thought it was a charitable organisation?

It is, but (according to Wiki) approximately two thirds of its income comes from governments. The rest comes from various fund raising activities.

That's not an uncommon arrangement. For example, my local council gives about £250,000 every year to the CAB and donates smaller amounts to other charities.

growstuff

Whitewavemark2

GrannyGravy13

UK gives UNICEF 100 million pounds annually, I am trying to find the article.

I thought it was a charitable organisation?

It is, but (according to Wiki) approximately two thirds of its income comes from governments. The rest comes from various fund raising activities.

That's not an uncommon arrangement. For example, my local council gives about £250,000 every year to the CAB and donates smaller amounts to other charities.

Thanks. I could have found out really but feeling very lazy this evening.

Jacob Rees-Mogg's comment about Unicef was breathtaking, especially seen in the context of his company being registered in the Cayman Islands and not paying a penny in Corporation Tax on their vast profits.

What’s wrong with everybody? We have a dysfunctional society and we are quibbling about aid to feed children.
It’s the whole bloody system that’s wrong. No good putting a sticking plaster on a fundamental problem.

Thank you growstuff

I don’t think they are comparing the poverty in other countries to excuse our own government. They are just trying to point out to those who think that only our government has got it wrong, that it is a far more widespread problem across Europe and the rest of the world.

I think that they are. There are a number of different reasons for countries being poor, and so their citizens being poor, but we have no excuse. As I said earlier, the UK is a wealthy 'country'. We don't have any shortage of food, nor, until the pandemic hit, were were short of jobs, so poverty in the UK is not caused by food poverty or lack of paid employment, unlike many third world/developing countries.

So why should people, a very significant number of them in work be so poor that they have to resort to food banks?

The only conclusion I can come to is that they are not paid enough to take them out of poverty. And this is a function of how our capitalist economic system works.

I am not at all anti capitalism per se, but it is not right when it concentrates a country's wealth and resources in the hands of a few and leaves many people poor.

The answer to this has to be a philosophical and ideological. What compelling reason is there that a few people should accumulate and monopolise a country's resources? Why should people be kept poor?

This is not 'communist' thought; this is asking about valuing people's lives. About whether 'governments' should consider all citizens worthy of a reasonable life, no matter what they do to 'earn' a living, or whether it should believe that everything should go to those with the strongest will to accumulate resources and let the weaker go to the wall? Survival of those regarded as 'the fittest' or support for all?

Definition of a civilized country surely must be: one that looks after its weak, its poor, its frail, the sick and the lonely as well as those whose lifestyle is chaotic.

Can we call ourselves civilized?

It is not communist to want a more level playing for people who start out disadvantaged through accident of birth, or circumstances beyond their control, and never catch up.

I’m not anti capitalist per se either, but unfettered capitalism only protects the rich, but depends on many others, however hard they may work, staying at the bottom of the heap. It’s how the system functions.

We should be like New Zealand and measure our progress in terms of well-being rather than GDP. www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/07/11/new-zealand-ditches-gdp-for-happiness-and-wellbeing/

Greeneyedgirl

It is not communist to want a more level playing for people who start out disadvantaged through accident of birth, or circumstances beyond their control, and never catch up.

I’m not anti capitalist per se either, but unfettered capitalism only protects the rich, but depends on many others, however hard they may work, staying at the bottom of the heap. It’s how the system functions.

I agree. I suppose communism was a poor example. I only used it to say that even communism, which sells itself as equality for all, evolves into “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”.

George Orwell’s “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” illustrates the problem we humans have with being fair to everyone in society.

It’s the proportions that are the problem. At one end of the scale are poor people who haven’t 2 half pennies to rub together and at the other end you have stinking rich including massively overpaid footballers, and the rest in between. Quite frankly if I earned what some of the top dogs earn like £500,000 a year minimum I wouldn’t know how to spend it. Ok there would be tax on it but still a lotta money. In my case for my favourite charities.

“Jacob Rees-Mogg proves beyond any doubt that being a Christian does not make you a moral, decent person.”

The Government has provided 400 million £ for children in food poverty.

Southwark Council approach UNICEF for £25,000.

The latter gets the most publicity!!!!

It is wrong that children are hungry in the UK, it is also wrong to say the Government has not done anything to alleviate the situation, still more needs to be done though.

Perhaps Mogg could draw down some of his fortune squirrelled in Grand Cayman and on which no tax has been paid to the U.K. government to help alleviate the situation.