The Big Issue

This is the text for this song that was ommitted from the North American version of the "Tubthumper" CD:

It's plain mathematics: for the rich to get richer, some of us have to stay poor. But in 'I'm alright Jack' England, reason is in short supply. Everything is blamed on the individual. You lost your job! Lazy bastard! You lost your home! You inadequate bastard! Blaming homelessness on the homeless is as stupid as blaming poverty on the poor.

Shelter estimates that there are 1,928,300 homeless people in the UK, while the Empty Homes Agency estimates that there are 820,000 empty properties in the UK. Figures from The Big Issue

"It (begging) is not acceptable to be out there on the street. There is no justification for it these days. It is a very offensive problem to many people... We think aggressive begging is a menace. Action has been taken against aggressive begging for some time and will continue." --John Major, May 28 1994

"We do not want people begging on the streets... I often drop my kids off in the morning at King's Cross and it's quite a frightening place. I'm saying we have to make our streets safe for people." --Tony Blair, Jan 6, 1997

"Those among you who have the good fortune to enjoy shelter, warmth and the comfort of a good home, I would ask you to consider just one thing: what would you do if you saw your wife and children condemned to live for years in a single room? I know what you would do. You would move heaven and earth to get something done, and if you knew there were large numbers of empty places which could be used you would protest against it by every means within your power, and so would I. That is what we have done... I, with thousands of other Londoners, want to see something better for our people, and what we claim for ourselves we feel it our duty to find for anyone else." --From Ted Bramley's obituary, by Margot Heinemann, 1991 (Ted Bramley played a leading role in the organising of the squatters' movement, when (in 1946) hundreds of families took over empty blocks of luxury flats, demanding that local councils use their powers to requisition all such empty properties. He was tried with four others at the Old Bailey on a catch-all charge of 'conspiracy to incite trespass', where he conducted his own political defence; challenging the crowded court with the above characteristic personal appeal to heart and conscience. The defendants were found guilty, but surprisingly were only bound over instead of the prison sentences they expected; and the requisitioning of homes for the homeless notably increased.)

"(There's) a hidden army which is squatting or living in unsuitable bed and breakfast accomodation. A national inquiry commissioned by charities suggested that there may be 250,000 people aged 17-25 alone in this group." --The Guardian

"It was only in the aftermath of Jack Straw's speech in Autumn 1995, urging a crackdown on aggressive beggars, winos and 'squeeze merchants' as part of a New York police style 'Zero Tolerance' campaign, that there was serious cabinet discussion about government policy. Michael Howard, the home secretary, pushed to update the vagrancy laws with what became known in Whitehall as the "sluice 'em down" policy to force beggars off the streets." --The Guardian January, 1997

"Since 1979, spending on housing has been more than halved, and fewer houses are being built today in Britain since at any time since the Second world War. Put another way: in 1975 equal amounts were being spent on defence and housing; in 1984 five times as much was spent on military services and on war material. Britain no longer has a national housing programme. While this policy has created more and more homeless people, a phenomenon has emerged. It is the British-Welfare State bank rolling the exploiters of the homeless and the unemployed to the extent of more than £120 million a year. This windfall now enriches owners of so-called hotels and hostels, most of them squalid, where victims of the recession are sent by local authorities and by the Department of Health and Social Security. These are the workhouses of the late twentieth century." --From "Heroes", John Pilger

"Shelter announced their 'NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS WEEK' in Febuary '96. They asked the public to 'wear a badge or send a postcard to aid the homeless'. JUSTICE? in Brighton responded with their own self-help campaign against homelessness; they opened a squatted Estate Agency. Its window displayed empty properties complete with helpful information: "Three bedrooms, nice garden, window open at the back". The Labour Brighton Council rushed an eviction order through the courts, so that an Eviction Notice was served on the building within hours of opening." --Paraphrased from Schnews, Brighton

Wow, i wonder how many people came hear looking for "i get knocked down, but i get up again..." and found this. Good post, for anyone who'll read it. Most of this bullshit got out of hand in the first place because of Margaret Thatcher.

dude you can't explain away the UK's poverty problems because of Margaret Thatcher. You might want to look to all the other countries in the world and you can even look back thousands of year these problems have always been here, they're everywhere. you can't explain it off with the fact that one politician. just because she was the one to bring the problem into the public eye. you seriously need to consider political problems before you can put blame to someone for them. if you did just put blame on a person or group of people for the problems you'd be as bad as hitler and I don't think I need to explain that