Are there no workhouses?

“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.

“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”

“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”

“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.

“Both very busy, sir.”

“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”

“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Well it was the December meeting of our book club last night and, with a nod to the season, we’d read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  We all loved it.  It’s a swift read; humorous in places; moving in its conclusion. One of the great redemption stories, it suggests that practical concern for our neighbours' wellbeing is evidence of redemption taking place. It would do your heart good to read it!

We met on the same day the report “Feeding Britain” was published by the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK.  It tells of families that are so desperate to avoid being evicted for rent arrears, or the disconnection of their gas or electricity that they go without food, relying on foodbanks to make ends meet.  The report highlights the work of these voluntary foodbanks – run by churches, charities and other people of goodwill.  It calls the attention of politicians from all parties to acknowledge the “simple but devastating fact that hunger stalks this country.”

The poor are made to pay more for basic necessities, e.g. through pre-payment meters, because they cannot make direct debit payments to keep costs down.  If people make a simple mistake in their claims for benefits, they can face sanctions to punish them. And, from the point when you make a claim, some people can wait up to 16 weeks before they see any money.

Over 900,000 adults and children received three days’ emergency food and support from Trussell Trust foodbanks in 2013-14, a 163 percent rise on numbers helped in the previous financial year. 

All this, 171 years after the world first heard of Ebenezer Scrooge, in a country with the 6th largest economy in the world.

We have not begun to imagine the breathtaking scale of prolonged cuts to welfare that will follow next year’s election.  None of the major political parties offers the slightest hope for us as a nation. The Conservatives will dismantle welfare provision with relish, as they roll back the state for ideological reasons. Labour entirely fails to convince that it has any real alternative to offer. The LibDems deserve the political oblivion they may face - and who could trust them in any case?  UKIP trades on fear and hatred and they should be opposed by all people of goodwill.

In this waiting season of Advent, we remind ourselves that the promised Christ was carried by a mother used to a hand-to-mouth economy, in a time of volatile politics. In her fragile voice we hear the hope that God offers, as we await His remaking of this broken world:

"He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty."