This comes from tonight's Jersey Evening Post:
So what does that say?
First, in a tax haven there are those unable to access banking.
Second, that many of those who cannot access banking there are suffering very real hardship indeed.
So, in a tax haven that supposedly has one of the highest incomes per head in the world there is very real poverty. And the income of the island does not, of course, trickle down to alleviate their need.
I know from stories I hear that poverty is a very real phenomena in Jersey. And I'll be honest, I think that it has a government that really does not care about that poverty or the contribution that the abuse that they permit makes to poverty in the island and around the world because in places like Jersey the only thing that matters to the people in power is themselves and their bank balances. At a very basic level that is a definition of corruption and it is writ large all over that lovely island.
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It’s writ large all over this lovely island too, if I may say so!
I used to live there, and you’re not wrong.
In a way rural poverty is worse than the, more commonly discussed, urban version.
I’ve got relatives in Gloucestershire who can’t afford a car. Now, if you haven’t got a car & you live in Gloucestershire you’re almost dead. The buses (no kidding) run once every 2 hours to Gloucester, Bath or Bristol. They stop at 6pm.
You pay over-the-odds for appalling produce from the local Mart because there is nowhere else.
You will be “encouraged” to apply for jobs that are 70 miles away which you cannot possibly reach. To reach them would require you to get up at 5am & walk along dirt-tracks for 2 hours to get to a bus service that is, kindly, described as erratic. If you miss the appointment you lose your benefits. Who sends your kids to school in the meantime? Not our problem. Doesn’t grandma live only 5 miles away? Yes, & she doesn’t have a car either & at pushing 80 doesn’t fancy getting up at 5am & walking down unlit dirt tracks.
Bad luck. You aren’t trying for work. You lose.
Everyone loses except the 1%.
Agreed
From someone living in a rural area
What would Wat Tyler say? Nothing gets changed by hand-wringing.
Eriugenus -you are quite right – live in Gloucestershire and just about manage to keep a car going. I am also aware that median wages in many villages near me are around 14,000(!) because many of the local jobs will be in pubs/restaurants and similar service sectors. Cheek by jowl with the gated/intercommed mansions and empty houses that are either holiday homes or assets lying idle.
As you point out, under the near fascism of the DWP people are expected to go to the job centre every day to look for non-existent jobs or ones that involve a traumatic move that can’t be afforded and separates you from your family.
On top of that the Tories would like to sell of what social housing still remains in these expensive areas. Are people to resort to cave dwelling as it still existed in the time of Defoe?
This issue is so real – and ignored
I live in rural Derbyshire – I once asked a local District Councillor about the minimum wage for agricultural workers in the Derbyshire Dales area and she laughed heartily and basically told me that it was ignored (and she was a landowner). There is great book called ‘Landscapes of Poverty’ which I read upon moving up here from London in 2000 – it was areal eye-opener.
Also, did you ever see that wonderful but disturbing documentary ‘The Lie of the Land’? Check it out. I was totally shocked and I bet you will be too. Sometimes I feel that this country is going backwards.
As the partner of a Guernsey man, I echo this for the people of the second largest Channel Island also.
Much of the wealth there is inactive locally. It own property and land in other countries and exists and loans for entities involved in making quick investments while hiding the identity of the beneficiaries.
The wealth is not part of any ‘trickle down economy’.
This is not just a Jersey issue. ‘The Sun’ today (equivalent to the JEP in its accuracy of reporting?) reports that 1 in 3 parents go without a main meal for the sake of their children, and that 1 million people are using food banks.
I’m not saying that Jersey has got things right, but the level of poverty in the island does not match the level of poverty generally within the UK.
Just a balance re-dress.
Those are different sample bases
Do you really think what George Osborne is doing to the UK population is any different to what the Jersey government is doing within its own island?