March against this Government!
It is with great pleasure that I have followed the prime minister David Cameron as he vainly attempts to explain and revive his election slogan of the ‘Big Society’. Charities are supposed to be playing a key role in the ‘Big Society’ despite having their funding cut.
John Major & Jack Profumo, Toynbee Hall 2003
One of the most well known charities in the East End is Toynbee Hall. They were supported by the late Jack Profumo who is described on the Toynbee website as ‘their longest serving volunteer’. Jack at one stage was apparently the toilet cleaner; I never saw him doing that but I suppose it looked good on the CV. In reality his job was to be grand and invite other grandees to donate to his charity. His contacts with the Conservative Party enabled him to pull in big name Tories to pontificate about social issues at lectures attended by the great and the good. I attended a few of these events and thought that the vast majority of the audiences were comprised of what I would describe as East End poverty tourists. Their lives, social experience, wealth and class removed them completely from the lives of real East Enders. Nevertheless I’m sure they considered themselves experts on the East End after attending a lecture by Michael Portillo with a complimentary glass of wine and finger buffet.
Ian Duncan Smith at Toynbee Hall, 2006
Ian Duncan Smith recently joined the Prime Minister at Toynbee Hall to launch plans for welfare reform. What they both have in common is a life characterised by privilege and wealth far removed from the life experience of the vast majority of the population. The majority of the Cabinet went to public schools and are millionaires. They are an out if touch elite who use their positions in government to protect privilege.
Pensioners at Toynbee Hall
Tories are always at their most gruesome when they try to convince the public they have big hearts when in reality they are trying to screw most of us in order to protect big business, bankers and an assortment of unaccountable secretive interest groups. In reality Cameron is paying lip service to the role that charities can play, while starving them of the resources they need. The voluntary sector is struggling under the weight of public sector budget cuts, the withdrawal of grants and the increase in VAT. The government is privatising Community Service and excluding public and voluntary sectors from the bidding process.
Tories at a Tory Conference, early 1990's
Cameron’s attempt to re-launch his ‘Big Society’ is nothing but a smokescreen for privatisation and allowing public services to be taken over and run down. Some people are disappointed and surprised at the role the Liberal Party has played in enabling this to happen. I’ve always found that if you scratch a Liberal you will find a Tory underneath; having experienced 8 years of a Liberal Council in Tower Hamlets in the 1980’s the antics of Clegg and Co don’t come as a surprise.
Protesting against the sale of Council Housing in Tower Hamlets, 1980's
Bill Turner, the protester above was critical of a Liberal Council’s privatisation of Council housing.
Protester against cuts in adult education, 2010
The Liberals pledged to support students in their fight against tuition fees. Once they were in power they ditched the policy. The annual cost of tuition fees has now gone up to as much as £9,000 – pricing many students out of higher education.
River Thames, 2004
Tower Hamlets Liberals even flirted with the idea of saving money by placing homeless families on a ship on the river Thames. The ‘Big Society’ is a big con sponsored by a coalition government which is doing huge damage to both the public and voluntary sectors whilst protecting the interests of big business.
Tomorrow, thousands of people will join the TUC march in London, to tell the government that savage spending cuts are unnecessary and unfair. The public service cuts will hit the most vulnerable the hardest.
There is an alternative
- fair taxation – tax the rich not the poor
- investment in our local communities, health and education
- a more equal and just society
- anything else you can think of to get rid of the ConDems
Chimneys
I can remember smog when I was a child. A toxic mix of fog and smoke, pouring from thousands of chimneys, it could reduce visibility to a few feet and induce a deadly suffocation. Chimneys abounded in the UK until the introduction of various clean air legislation rendered their use illegal.
The Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool and a house with chimneys, 1977
Truman chimney, Brick Lane 2007
I’m not sure if the prominent red and white funnels releasing steam from the bowels of New York City (below) qualify as chimneys but they perform a similar function to their higher up cousins.
Junction with steam funnels, New York City 2005
Old chimneys (below) compete with an even older spire of Christ church, Spitalfields.
Christ Church spire with chimneys, Spitalfields 1991
Bikes of Colour
Abandoned bicycle frame, Bethnal Green 2008
This bicycle frame has been painted after it died. Perhaps it is the work of a cycle cult that tattoos derelict bikes respectfully with spray paint.
Bicycle at night, Commercial Street 2004
Young man on stationary bike, New York 2005
Buriganga River Bangladesh
Buriganga river with a few boats, 1992
Despite being the recipient of 80% of Dhaka’s sewage and other pollutants the Buriganga always looks magnificent in spite of its human adversaries. This river featured heavily in the film ‘Going East’ which was shown last Saturday at the Purcell Room on the South Bank.
Buriganga river with a boat during sunset, 1992
River East & West
The history of the river Thames is the history of London. Looking at old photographs and engravings of the river I am struck by how it has become virtually empty compared to the past.
Barge passes the London Eye. River Thames 2005
Most traffic on the Thames now relates to leisure activities and tourism. The barge (above) is removing London’s waste to a landfill site further east and is one of the few remaining commercial activities on river.
Rowing boats on the Buriganga River in Dhaka, 2009
When I was last in Bangladesh I couldn’t help reflecting that the myriad activity on the Buriaganda river reminded me of the photographs I’d seen of the 19th century river Thames.
Boy on a boat, Buriganga river 1992
The boy I photographed (above) worked on a passenger boat and is seen here taking a reflective rest. No doubt many children were employed on ships entering the Thames during Victorian times.
Three disused cranes, Isle of Dogs 1989
The three cranes (above) are among a few industrial monuments which are testimony to the Thames as the world’s former centre of commerce.
River Thames looking East from Shadwell, 1982
Photographed from Shadwell, this view of the river looking East (above) resonates desolation and gives no hint of the future growth of Canary Wharf.
Canary Wharf from the River Thames, 2006
Passengers transferring from a rowing to a larger passenger boat, Buriganda river 2009
