David Gregg

This book records the latest chapter in the long history of state denigration of the 'undeserving poor' in the British underclass.In 2011, following the police killing of a black Londoner with alleged gang associations, riots broke out in several cities.The common threads in the rioters were poverty and minority ethnic protests against police prejudice.The government claimed that the real issue was gangs although only 13% of rioters had gang links.They further claimed that gangs arose because of bad parenting.On this basis they launched the Troubled Families Programme which would reprocess 120,000 of these families and turn them into model citizens.Prime Minister David Cameron made these claims in the media:'These families are the source of a large proportion of the problems in society.Drug addiction.Alcohol abuse.Crime.A cult of irresponsibility that cascades through the generations.'In fact 97% of the families had never received drug treatment;88% were not alcohol dependent;90% were not involved in crime;94% had no gang links.However the families were very poor, socially inadequate and had high levels of illness.75% had a member with a limiting, long standing illness or disability; 52% had at least one child with a statement of special educational needs or other special needs. Unemployment was at 74% mainly because of health issues.45% of adults had a mental health problem. These were families in trouble; not families causing trouble.Their real 'crime' was that they cost the state too much money.The official story was that the TF Programme would save tax payers �9 billion per annum by 'turning around' these families using 'assertive intervention' and 'tough sanctions'.40% of the families were indeed sanctioned.Very few of the families received medical treatment for their many health problems.By 2015 after the 3 year programme, it was claimed that 99% of the families had been successfully re-programmed and that �1.2 billion per annum had been saved. In 2016 the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee forced the release of the National Evaluation Study of the TFP which had been suppressed for over a year.It showed that instead of a 99% 'turn around' the TFP had made zero impact on family crime, antisocial behaviour,school problems,health,well being,employment, family stability or benefit claiming.A study of local authority results showed a net saving of 5% of the total family cost BUT this could not be attributed to the TFP itself. The real 'cost saving' was probably zero.So we have a 99% family 'turn around' but at least 95% of family cost remains!How is this possible?The author shows how the local authorities, encouraged by the UK department for communities and local government,changed success criteria and manipulated data to get the result the government wanted. The TFP cost the British tax payer �448 million from 2012 to 2015. The money vanished into cash strapped local authorities.The TFP achieved nothing except the harassment of vulnerable families who needed but did not get support for chronic health problems.Despite criticism of the TFP the PAC approved its continuation at a further cost of over �900 million to 2020. It was too embarrassing to cancel it and admit a major policy failure which had cross-party support.The riots and the TFP story were also used to justify a general attack on UK welfare benefits with major cuts and a blitz of sanctions.The result has been an explosion in Food Banks and the suicides of desperate people denied benefits, perhaps ~840 each year.The author notes that the Nazis killed their own disabled 'useless mouths' through the 1930s and 1940s, perhaps 250,000 in all, simply because of their high cost to the state.They did not find it necessary to denigrate and blame their 'unfortunates'.In Britain today,we do.

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