My Least Favourite Lords - an Occasional Series

[steepholm]

Lord Freud, the investment banker who is also an unelected government minister in charge of welfare "reform", has told the House magazine that he can understand what it's like being poor, despite being very rich himself, because "You don't have to be the corpse to go to a funeral."

What a well chosen metaphor! And, thanks to his department's work with ATOS, one that is increasingly not a metaphor at all.

He also believes that the poor should be prepared to take more risks than the rich, because "They've got least to lose". Besides, there's plenty more where they came from.

When it comes the Great Psychoanalyst's political progeny, I prefer Clement.

Comments

[kalypso]

Do you have an even more occasional series on your most favourite lords?

[steepholm]

It would be a very occasional series indeed! I do quite like Thomas Fairfax (1612-71).

[cmcmck]

Aha! Another Black Tom fan! :o)

He's someone who I admire deeply with my military historian's hat on and Lady Fairfax was also quite something.

[lamentables]

I was just reading the Guardian on Freud. Not that any of the rest impressed me, but the part that had me incensed was "the people who are self-employed for year after year and only earn hundreds of pounds or a few thousand pounds".

It's just like the spurious - and dangerous - concept of the deserving poor/feckless poor. He seems to be reaching for an idea of self-employment as laudable for those who make millions and despicable for those who don't. Self-employment for the deserving rich and proper jobs for the lazy poor. Grrrraaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Does he really imagine that people are taking up self-employment as an easy option? And that they don't want to make more money? These are the people I work with and it's heartbreaking to watch their income dwindling year after year - no matter what they do to try and change things - because the economy has gone to shit and no-one is spending any money.

[steepholm]

A friend of mine did a survey of children's writers a few years back. The mean income they earned from writing was £5,000. Are we to infer that they were working a squillion times less hard than J. K. Rowling?

[lamentables]

Clearly we are! Though I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of Rowling's avowed willingness to pay tax...

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Coming from the social background I do, I can only say 'so what else is new'?

They really don't have the first idea, these overprivileged ratbags!

At least Clement wrote nice books for younguns. When I was teaching my kids loved: 'Grimble'. :o)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I liked his bloodhound, too.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

A remarkable example of owner coming to look like dog (or perhaps the other way about. :o)

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Or even Lucian, rather than that.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Hell, I'd take Emma!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

There's Esther, though maybe that's moving a bit further away from politics.

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

I know Sophie. She's pretty wonderful. I think she's uninterested in her cousins.