Come and see truth of poverty yourself
TOP TORY INVITED TO SEE FILM’S SUBJECT IN ACTION
Ian Lavery A top Tory who voiced doubts over how realistic the movie I, Daniel Blake is has been invited to the North East by a Labour colleague to expose him to the “shameful levels of suffering” in the region.
Ian Lavery, the MP for Wansbeck in Northumberland, hit out at James Cleverly, the Braintree MP and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party for his “ignorant and callous” comments.
During a BBC showing of the Ken Loach film, a movie about a man struggling to navigate a tricky benefits system in Newcastle, Mr Cleverly tweeted to remind his followers that it was fiction.
He posted: “I Daniel Blake, is a powerful and moving film. But it is a political polemic and is particularly unfair on the public sector professionals who work in Job Centre Plus, in my experience they are proactive and helpful.
“Completely at odds with their portrayal in the film.
“Citing this film as ‘proof’ of how the benefits system works, as a number of Labour MPs have done, is simply wrong.”
The remarks attracted a large social media backlash, including from Mr Lavery, who has now made a “genuine offer” to Mr Cleverly, pictured right, to visit the North East.
In a letter to the
Tory deputy chairman, Mr
Lavery, the
Labour Party chairman, said he was “bitterly disappointed to see the ignorance and callousness your words exemplified as you insinuated that the reality of many thousands of UK citizens was simply a work of fiction”. He added: “Your words would cause deep hurt to any one of my many constituents relying on the Wansbeck Valley Foodbank to provide for their children due to the welfare sanctions and regressive austerity policies you have consistently and passionately supported. “I can only conclude from your lack of compassion or understanding that you inhabit an entirely different reality to that of my constituents.
“As a result, I would like to invite you to visit the North East and accompany me to see the poverty and desperation many people face every single day so that you may have the understanding required to help us tackle the shameful levels of suffering in our society and undo the damage done to our communities over the past eight years.”
Mr Cleverly has yet to publicly respond to the letter, which the Wansbeck MP posted on Twitter.
But in his original Twitter thread, he blamed the previous Labour Governments for creating a punishing benefits system which was “complicated, full of perverse penalties and claw-backs”.
Released to critical acclaim in 2016, I, Daniel Blake tells the story of a 59-year-old joiner who falls into extreme poverty after his benefits are stopped.
After picking up his Bafta in 2017, Loach thanked the Academy for “endorsing the truth of what the film says”.
The film, which also picked up the prestigious Palme D’Or at Cannes, was shown on BBC Two on Saturday night and a number of Labour figures encouraged television viewers to tune in.