South Bronx is just as important as Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall

It is lovely to watch a US President taking the oath of office and not be scared. The feeling of dread I experienced in 1981 and 2001 when Reagan and the younger Bush took office was not pleasant. While Barack Obama has not been perfect, his heart is generally in the right place. His achievements in his first term are all the more remarkable when you consider that he faced a Congress full of some of the most right wing, conservative Republicans we've seen in our lifetimes whose sole aim was to thwart his every move.

Obama's inaugural speech was stirring and inspiring to liberal ears. His main theme was that every American should have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on which the nation was founded.

For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law  –-  -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.

He talked about how the "most evident of truths, that all of us are created equal....guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall." It's strange to think that a strong declaration in favour of gay rights by the "leader of the free world" is seen as remarkable. All of this is great stuff and he was right to mention those places were so pivotal in developing equal rights. There is another place beginning with S, though, which symbolises action required to tackle another great barrier to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. South Bronx is the poorest Congressional District in the US.

While I'm glad to hear politicians embrace the prospect of equal rights, they are relatively inexpensive for a Government or Parliament with a majority in favour to implement. Even David Cameron is in favour of equal civil marriage. Developing a strategy which will lift people from appalling poverty is so much harder because it involves a huge amount of political will to put the resources in to do it. The US and UK are, despite the talk of deficits and debts, among the most affluent countries in the world yet at the same time as Obama was speaking, the UK Parliament was debating a measure that will cut benefits for the poorest here.

To give Obama credit, he did recognise the need to tackle poverty:

 For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.

We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.  We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm.  The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us.

But I found this line depressing:

We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else.

If you grow up cold, or hungry, in poor housing, you don't have the same life chances as everyone else. That's the simple truth. Why do we accept that people should be born into bleak poverty at all? While I  realise we can't change everything overnight, all politicians need to raise their sights and get more ambitious about eradicating poverty. For Liberal Democrats, this is a core part of our values. Our membership cards say that we seek to create a fair, free and open society where no-one is enslaved by poverty, ignorance and conformity. Obamacare across the Atlantic and raising the tax threshold and building more affordable housing here are good things but are nowhere near enough. The least we should be aiming for is that everyone has enough to eat and a warm home that meets their needs. Whilst it's fine to give ourselves a pat on the back for small successes along the way, we can't afford to lose a sense of urgency about the rest of the journey.

National Archives publish Victorian Poor Law records

Way back in 1985, I wrote my dissertation for my Certificate of Sixth Year Studies History paper on Poverty and the Poor Law, charting the circumstances behind the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and its implementation.  I remember being both heartbroken and outraged at some of the stories I read, thinking at the time how my dogs led a better life than many of the Victorian poor.

Today's tabloid narrative, which stigmatises benefits claimants, virtually all of whom are trying to do the best for their families, is nothing new when you consider how in Victorian times some considered inactivity and poverty as a moral failing.

Those feelings of heartbreak and outrage resurfaced today when I had a quick look round the material released today by the National Archives which includes correspondence from a number of Poor Law Unions in England and Wales.

Because we lived for 11 years in North Nottinghamshire, I decided to look at Mansfield's records first. I came across a letter from the local Poor Law Union to the Poor Law Commissioners in London concerning a George Riley. He had 4 children and his wife had recently died "after a severe illness, leaving him in a poor or destitute state."


The Commissioners granted what was termed "outdoor relief" - which meant food, basically, but no accommodation for a period of one month. Chillingly, they said that if further help was needed after that, then some of his children could be admitted to the harsh world of the workhouse.

I don't think our current benefits system provides enough help for those in most need, but a month's basic assistance before you lose your kids, on top of losing your wife, is just brutal and inhumane.

When I have more time, I will look more closely. All of the items are free to download and they provide a real  insight into the lives of people like George Riley. I wish I knew what had become of him and his 4 children. I'd like to think that they got through it and he was able to find work to support his family again.