I, DANIEL BLAKE
TORY chairman James Cleverly has been criticised for making disparaging online comments about the film I, Daniel Blake.
Cleverly responded to a Labour MP’s tweet about Ken Loach’s Bafta-winning drama on the damage caused by Tory welfare cuts – labelling the movie “a work of fiction”.
The Twitter row erupted after it emerged the next phase of the Government’s welfare reform will be overhauled following widespread criticism.
I, Daniel Blake, which was released in 2016, tells the story of a 59-year-old joiner who suffers a heart attack and falls into extreme poverty after his benefits are stopped.
The film was shown on BBC2 on Saturday night and a several Labour figures encouraged television viewers to tune in.
Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey tweeted: “If anyone is in any doubt of the human cost of Tory austerity on our communities please watch I, Daniel Blake tonight.”
Cleverly responded to her: “You do realise that it’s not a documentary, don’t you. Don’t you?” Nearly 4000 comments were posted in reply to his tweet.
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery wrote: “Instead of mocking, try some compassion. Too much to ask?”
His colleague Tracy Brabin, a former screenwriter, posted: “I couldn’t write anything until I understood the truth from all angles.
“#IDanielBlake is a dramatisation of ordinary people’s lived experience. For you to challenge that proves how disconnected you are.”
Cleverly defended his comments.
He wrote: “Citing this film as proof of how the benefits system works, as a number of Labour MPs have done, is wrong.”