The Big Society Explained
The government claims the Big Society they want to install in the UK is a hugely ambitious and complex matter. Ministers sometimes find it difficult to spin the ‘BS’ in simple sound bites.
For a Tory explaining the Big Society is a bit like communicating the origins of the universe. It is shrouded in a degree of mystery. The mystery is essential because the Big Society has the same moral physiology of a pyramid sales scheme. The Big Society depends on a government who falsely claim that society can be improved, healed and rejuvenated if we all work harder for less money. Like all pyramid schemes the only people who benefit from it are the con men and women who advocate it.
In order to clarify matters and remove any mystery the photo essay below explains the reality of the Big Society:
Whitechapel Library
The Big Society closes libraries.
Bus Stop, East London
The Big Society restricts public transport and increases fares.
Stop the War protest
The Big Society accommodates war.
Demonstration against education cuts
The Big Society excludes the poor and many others from education.
A bank at Canary Wharf
The Big Society robs money from the poor and gives it to the banks and allows bankers to pay themselves huge ‘bonuses’.
A Hand in a NHS hospital, 2011
The Big Society is sacking health workers and believes hospitals should be run like a business for profit.
Electricity supply to London
The Big Society increases fuel poverty as it encourages energy companies to make greater profits.
Homeless person sleeping in a cardboard box
The Big Society is cutting housing benefit and increasing the level of homelessness.
This explanation of the Big Society may not be as comprehensive as it could be. If I have missed anything out please let me know.
Babes in Arms
Father and daughter, Spitalfields 1986
Babies in a rickshaw, Bangladesh 1996
Father and daughter, Spitalfields 1997
Mobile fridges and Cucumbers
Following a number of visits to Bangladesh over the past 20 years I’ve come to the conclusion that anything can be moved around by sheer muscle power. The fridge on the bicycle platform (below) is a relatively modest cargoe but still appears to be quite a triumph of human transportation.
Bicycle with fridge, Dhaka 2008
Market cart, Petticoat Lane 1984
- In contrast the hand cart (above) probably dates back to Victorian times and has no doubt been responsible for the movement of thousands of tons of vegetables in its life time. On the day I photographed the gentleman (below) it was responsible for the movement of cucumbers and apples.
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Petticoat Lane market, 1984
Flying on Brick Lane
The Biman aircraft painting (below) could be seen in the entrance to flats and a mini cab office in 1995 on Brick Lane. The painter probably learnt to paint for advertising in Bangladesh. The style is similar to many hand painted advertisements which were prolific in India and Bangladesh a few decades ago. This small example of the genre caught my eye and reminded me of Bangladesh. The image has been attacked I suspect by inebriated individuals waiting for cabs supplied by the office above. The lines across the image have most likely been scratched on with coins.
Aircraft painting on wall, Brick Lane 1995
Brick Lane, woman walking past cab office entrance, 1995
If you look carefully into the entrance the woman (above) is passing you can see the painting advertising ‘Biman’ in context under the sign ‘Surma Travels’.
Shadwell Warehouse
Thirty years ago ‘The Highway’ in Shadwell accommodated empty warehouses which overlooked the River Thames. They have since been demolished or converted into luxury flats. I recall exploring one warehouse which was opposite the Shadwell Centre (which remains as a public building). It was clear that the building had remained empty and undisturbed for decades.
Letters on the floor of a Shadwell Warehouse, 1982
Proof of this was the letters I photographed on the floor of the warehouse dated 1943 to the British Channel Islands Shipping Co. Ltd from ‘Coast Lines Ltd’. The ship the ‘Windsor Queen’ mentioned in the letter was Captained at the time by George Colverson who was born on the 8th February 1882. According to the Knottingley and Ferrybridge local history library Captain Colverson concluded his maritime career on the Windsor Queen: “To complete the record of the ships commanded by Captain Colverson, we will jump to 1943, to find him at the helm of the ’S.S. Windsor Queen’ 1,390 tons deadweight, just delivered from Burntisland. The ’Windsor Queen’ came in for her share of attacks from aircraft and E-boats (motor torpedo boats) while on the east coast run, to feed the fires of southern England with Tyneside coal, and in addition, was in the port of London during a particularly venomous attack by flying bombs. A large proportion of these missiles fell in the Thames Estuary and dock areas, and on this occasion several landed in uncomfortable proximity. The ’Windsor Queen’ however, continued on her voyages unharmed to the end of the war. Captain Colverson was awarded the M.B.E. for his wartime service, and no man’s record in the Merchant Navy can more worthily have merited this recognition.”
View from the roof of a warehouse, 'The Highway' Shadwell 1982
Looking west (above) a frugal collection of buildings punctuate the horizon compared to today’s skyline. On the right of the photograph are the remains of the lift shaft. The shafts stripped down dereliction hints at a gallows construction which in turn speaks of the end of an era.
The City viewed from Spitalfields, 2006
The photograph (above) shows how the City has grown since 1982. A contemporary photograph from the same spot would reveal the frenetic building of towers which has occurred in recent years.
View of a Council tower block on The Highway, 1982
The opening (above) allowed goods to be hauled in or out. It reveals two types of housing that characterised Tower Hamlets for many years: older terraced housing and newer municipal Council blocks.
Scattered documents on the floor of a warehouse, 1982
I wonder now what stories might have been revealed by the myriad of abandoned documentation. All of it would have disappeared in the demolition or refurbishment into luxury apartments.
