Sideways News

John Bird feels known poverty in Britain is just the tip of an iceberg

Human rights abuses: what picture does it conjure for you? Perhaps starving children in Ethiopia, gay teens executed in Iran or genocide in Sri Lanka. All issues that preoccupy us today and we choose to tackle by donating to charities such as the Red Cross.

Yet, by concerning ourselves with a modern "Borrioboola-Gha", are we all a bit guilty of telescopic philanthropy? Big bad Johnny Bird of The Big Issue (TBI), talking exclusively to Sideways News, is outspoken on the issue. "There is an enormous amount of poverty and human rights abuse in Britain". So why, in a wealthy Western country, is poverty and homelessness still such a huge problem?

He says, "We have a series of icebergs. Very small amounts of them are dealt with and the vast majority is hidden underwater.

"We are trying to take the 100% damage and remove 2% of it. And I don't think we've got time."

Hard to believe?

We have plenty of charities and government schemes set up to end poverty, especially child poverty, in the UK. But after checking the stats, clearly we're not getting it right because 13 million (that's 22% of the population) people in the UK live in households below the low-income threshold. Then of course, we've got the homeless, who are estimated to account for more than four people per 1,000 of the UK population.

So why the problem and what's the solution?

John Bird sees the problem as two-fold. Firstly, the Government and charities actions combine to keep people mired in their problems: "Child poverty comes from families who've been blasted and broken and supported by social security which is a form of criminal, insane, a new form of slavery. It ensures people stay in poverty. Only 20% of people who get it, manage to use it as a form of social mobility."

Secondly, those in the advisory seats... are still there: "Politicians are only as good as their own advisors. If you want to end child poverty, why get in the people who are already dealing with it? They haven't solved the problem."

An unlikely London Mayor

At one point, he felt so zealous that he considered running for London Mayor but what stopped him was that "It's an apologist position. How could I really put homelessness and social alienation uppermost in the consciousness of London? I realised you don't have those chances [as London Mayor]."

Instead, he continues to expand the work of TBI. Yet, even this isn't immune to the problems of dealing with poverty. In reaction perhaps partly to this problem and a mellowing of the years, John Bird, the man who says, "I am an ex offender, racist, scumbag. I've been on the streets, I've been in the army... I've been fucking everywhere", has decided to adopt a policy that is "paternalistic with an exit".

He confesses himself that he hated this attitude. When he was on the streets "I loathed those who didn't give me money and hated those that did". Although he now recognises that something beyond food and shelter needs to be done for the homeless; this just "keeps them in a state of permanent infantilisation".

What next for TBI?

He asks: "Why can't we give the homeless the same opportunity of growing up as your parents gave you? " This is why he is introducing a new strIng to the bow of TBI following a major issue that Bird says could kill the business in the next three to four years.

The problem? For every four transactions on the street between the vendor and the public, only one involves a purchase of the paper. The vendors are still getting handouts because people don't want the paper but feel guilty and give vendors cash, which devalues the magazine and the business as a whole.

Introducing the e-magazine

To escape this vicious circle of handouts, TBI is looking to introduce an e-magazine. The concept is clever: members of the public pay £6 per month to receive the e-magazine. Half of the money is then allocated to a vendor within your postal code. By signing up, you've become a "vendor-befriender".

Let's hope it works because it currently costs "£1m to ‘create' the average BI vendor over 10 years." And it's us who keep them in poverty: "We spend more money on the poor than the rich spend on their own children."

So, yes - there's lots to do around the globe about the issue of human rights, but why not also spare a thought for what's happening on your doorstep and what you might do differently to help the homeless near you.

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