In the run-up to Christmas, there are many versions of Scrooge and A Christmas Carol, a tale of a cold-hearted miser who, at the end of the story, gets redemption by visits from three spirits: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come.
The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge that his greed and selfishness have hurt others, particularly Cratchit, who cannot afford to provide his desperately ill son, Tiny Tim, with medical treatment because of Scrooge’s miserliness.
The Spirit tells a horrified Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die unless something changes.
In the current recession, following one disastrous budget which crashed the country’s reputation and another that both deepens 12 years of austerity and widens the gap between the wealthy and the poor, Mr Dickens would be utterly appalled.
In 1945, within weeks following the election of a Labour Government, Nye Bevan produced a plan for major change and the establishment of the National Health Service in which the sale of medical practice was forbidden. A series of reorganisations since have wreaked havoc on the NHS which is now under real threat.
Unless something changes – without a visionary and proper plan for health and social care people will die in ambulances queuing for hospital emergency admission; the backlog for specialist and routine referrals will continue to blight lives; the elderly and disabled and their families will suffer unnecessarily whilst social care places are not available; vacancies will continue to be filled by expensive agency staff, often originating from countries that also need them; as tax payers we continue to pay for storing PPE equipment that was fast tracked through sometimes dubious means but which wasn’t and isn’t fit for purpose.
Unless something changes – inflation will put further pressure on public service pay and families finding it hard to manage; a staggering four million people will be paying almost a third of their incomes on fuel costs in spring.
Bills will continue to rise as government support is withdrawn even from some of the most vulnerable.
Coupled with poor housing stock this has long term consequences for health. No wonder public service staff are voting to take strike action, sometimes for the first time in history.
Unless something changes – the social care system is dysfunctional; the waiting list in the criminal justice system is horrendous; the immigration and asylum system is cruel; significant MPs take holidays or volunteer for reality tv shows rather than working for their constituents; Brexit is hardly the success it was heralded to be; Cop27 is not as bold as it should be.
Unless something changes – bankers retain their bonuses; non- doms keep their tax status; 2023 is shaping up to be a worse year than 2022 for pensioners and families with children as incomes are eroded. The Centre for Social Justice think tank estimates that the poorest in our communities are paying an additional £480 a year more than the rest of us for basic goods, fuel and credit costs.
So what to celebrate? Local people doing good things in the community. Last week with Freely Fruity and volunteers from local resident groups and Virgin O2 a group of us spent a couple of hours getting thoroughly wet and muddy planting fruit trees in Bulmershe Park. That was a significant contribution to the local environment and an investment for the future. On Saturday morning another group did one of their regular volunteer community clean-ups in Whitegates.
Local volunteers canvassing for change and listening to people’s concerns on the doorstep, signposting help where possible.
Volunteers giving up their time to deliver support through local food banks and direct help. Yet in 2022 we shouldn’t need this. Mr Dickens would be appalled.
‘Unless something changes’ – It must. It will. Your vote can make something change. Use it. Use it wisely.
Sheena Matthews is the Labour ward member for Whitegates at Earley Town Council
