Make J.K. Rowling the Rt Hon Joanne K. Rowling, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. IOTL she's donated over 6 million euros to Labour, is personal friends with Gordo and the missus, and has praised their platform many times. POD 1990.
She is of course right in that Labour have reduced child poverty, she is also pointed in her critisism of one of the Tories policies with regards to tx perks for married couples. She has also raised tens of millions for anti-poverty and other causes and charities. I fail to see how any of this is hypocritical. Also remember the previous Government that served the nation whose pronouncements on poverty ranged from "If it hurts, it works" to "On yer bike." (Comparitive Child poverty rose from 12% in 1979 to 26% in 1991, it is currently 15.4%.)J.K Rowling said:"I believe that poor and vulnerable families will fare much better under the Labour Party than they would under a Cameron-led Conservative Party. Gordon Brown has consistently prioritised and introduced measures that will save as many children as possible from a life lacking in opportunity or choice. The Labour government has reversed the long-term trend in child poverty, and is one of the leading EU countries in combating child poverty. David Cameron's promise of tax perks for the married, on the other hand, is reminiscent of the Conservative government I experienced as a lone parent. It sends the message that the Conservatives still believe a childless, dual-income, but married couple is more deserving of a financial pat on the head than those struggling, as I once was, to keep their families afloat in difficult times."
Yes, because of course it impossible to be rich and have a social conscience.If JK Rowling really cared about child poverty she would spend 599 million of her
600 million pound fortune on the deserving and still have 1 million left to live on.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-402027/What-does-JK-Rowling-money.html
The truth is she wants us to assuage her conscience and have the poor or middle incomed pay for the feckless while her fortune accumulates in some swiss bank account.
Typical example of NuLabour Luvvie hypocrisy. She has billions in the bank but spends millions supporting a party that steals money from the working poor and then gets them stabbed by a criminal class that has been allowed to flourish.
By the income she currently recieves, her payment in taxation earns millions for the UK Exchequer. As such she more than pays her way.The million she would have left after giving away the rest, would prove the possibility of her being rich with a social conscience.
Unless you consider a million as the starting point of poverty.
The big quesion is how to realise equality of oppurtunity in a manner which benefits the nation. I remember Labour meetings of thelate nineties, where equality of oppurtunity was a big soundbite.Absolute nonsense. The labour government has done a lot for the working poor, Working Family Tax Credits and the minimum wage spring to mind.
Its great failure has been to believe that this can have an effect without challenging inequality and creating equality of opportunity.
That and not realising an entire country can't live on tick indefinitely and pissing away fortunes on wars that make no fucking sense.
Tony Blair was in CND, and Dr John Reid was a young Communist. Simply because they hold certain views at one stage of their lives does not mean they will hold these views, or stick to these views in years to come, besides inside the Labour Party there are still many Old Labour types, Old Labour or New Labour they are all Labour after all..Hmmm, in that "Very British Divorce" thread you started, I suggested that J.K. Rowling get Knighted (along with David Tennant) in an effort to build up Labour support in Scotland.
Of course, I'm curious at to what Ms. Rowling's opinion of the Iraq War is. (It's the main reason why I like the Lib Dems. (I also like the SNP and Plaid because I'm a proponent of self-determination.)) I'm not sure why David (an alumnus of 7:84) backs New Labour- think he'd be more an Old Labour type.
Then again, I'm a Yank who's never set foot in the UK, and likely knows very little about UK politics. (Though i have to say I know more than most Americans...which isn't much...)