How was your weekend?

Good Friday!......Good for whom, exactly?

Minimum Wage? Luxury!


The Bishop of Shrewsbury surfaced on the radio news this afternoon. Apparently he's been running a publicity stunt over Lent, claiming to have lived the entire period (a whole six weeks, whoopee!) on the British minimum wage.

I reproduce below in its entirety the email sent to him this evening for his delectation and hopefully education.

Bishop Smith,

I just listened to your item on the PM programme with interest.

Without wishing to sound like a Monty Python sketch, I DREAM of £5.05 per hour.

Due to mental health problems I have been attempting to survive on Income Support for the last year. In order to keep myself, my dog, a three bedroom house and the VERY most basic form of transport (an extremely old and ratty motorcycle) which I need to access discount/sell-by-date-expired food shops, I receive the princely sum of £110 per fortnight. (Forgive me if my maths are shoddy but I translate that to £1.37½ per hour, based on 40 hour week!) Let's not even go into the added insult that for the last couple of months they have been disputing my GP's diagnosis and reduced even that pittance to £44 pounds per week whilst I appeal.

If you are marvelling how ANYONE can survive on that amount, the answer, of course, is that it's impossible, as witnessed by my rising monthly credit card balance, which, at this moment in time, I have no clue how/whether I shall ever clear.

I should point out that for the greater part of my 52 years I've lived in Britain and consequently had no choice but to pay their outrageously high income and purchase taxes as and when demanded. However I suppose it would be too selfish to expect them to pass a little back should I ever be in dire necessity, and can, of course, perfectly well see that the need of the White House and Halliburton company shareholders etc. to gain control of a de-nationalised Iraqi economy and oilfields far outweighs mine to eat.

Whenever I've queried this payment amount or BEGGED to be told if there weren't some allowance of which I've failed to be informed, for example, assistance with the electricity account, with the local office, the reply has always been the same parrot response, "That is the amount the `law` says (no, I wasn't aware that an abstract noun could speak either) you need to live on!". It would be too easy, nor do I have the heart, to point out that is the amount they probably spend on a single Friday night at the pub, and I very much doubt any `lawmaker` would even get out of bed for ten times that figure!

I'd be grateful if you would also consider the following point; someone working for minimum wage does so, to an extent, from choice. That's to say if they find it insufficient to support their needs they always have the option to seek further education and/or a better paying job, a luxury not afforded to someone in my position.

A couple of examples, if I may, which I hope will give a sense of perspective. I desperately need a new rear motorcyle tyre, both for safety and legal reasons, cost around £40, which there's just no way I can justify spending. I know, you're probably thinking £40 is NOTHING, I also would have laughed two years ago, but that `nothing` is now a week's entire income. Or that my fridge died last year, and I have absolutely no prospect of even dreaming of a replacement. Or that I break into a sweat every time I enter a shop, worrying how I'll pay for the food I'm buying to keep us alive. These among many others, are daily anguishes in my current existence, always in mind, always.

I don't doubt your Lent experiment was meant with the best will and intent, but I just wanted to try to give you some impression of the realities of living way BELOW the poverty level.

Regards,
Bloggdogg.

I shall be delighted to give his response equal prominence on this site, provided, of course, it
falls within "the Salty Blog publishing house™ profanity/obscenity guidelines "( a reminder for non-regular* browsers who may need a refresher; any libel/lewdness/lascivious behaviour/lingering-labia-licking is fine and dandy here, but NO defence of, nor apologists for, religion and any other variations of medieval superstition, incest, line-dancing, circum***ion, Korean cuisine or Adam Ant, is permitted EVER!).




*non-regular browsers are recommended to eat more roughage; better yet, a few late night curries will soon get you sorted!