COVID-19 Inequalities: When is support a political stunt?

By Duane Phillips (duane_phillips_)

2020. It is difficult to know where to start in what has been an extremely challenging time for this country. The challenges have affected some people more harshly than others. So much that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) collaborated with Food Power to provide community based organisations and similar group’s grants (£5,000 – £25,000) to help prevent food poverty. In response to this, leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg argued, “I think it’s a real scandal that Unicef should be playing politics in this way, when it is meant to be looking after people in the poorest the most deprived countries in the world. Where people are starving where there are famines and where there are civil wars and they make cheap political points of this kind giving I think £25000 pounds to one council. It is a political stunt” (2020, 00:08).

Are UNICEF playing a political stunt? The UK has the sixth greatest growth domestic product, (GDP) meaning their monetary measure of its goods and services holds great global power. UNICEF support other UK based programmes such as the Baby Friendly Initiative, the Rights Respecting Schools Award and Child Friendly Cities and Communities, which have not come under similar criticism. It could be argued that Jacob Rees-Mogg does not care about those that are impacted by COVID-19 because they are in a different class to him. Additionally, Jacob Rees-Mogg has a voting record that suggests he could be against many equality and humans rights issues that affect the very people he is supposed to represent:

• 16/04/13: Voted against making it illegal to discriminate based on caste (UK Parliament, 2013).
• 09/07/19: Voted not to permit same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland (UK Parliament, 2019).
• 18/07/19: Voted not to legalise abortion in certain circumstances in Northern Ireland (UK Parliament, 2019). 

The impact that COVID-19 has had on so many people suggests that UNICEF are correct in providing additional support to feed those facing the effects of poverty. What does poverty mean? According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, (JRF) they list these:

• “Relative income poverty, where households have less than 60% of contemporary median income
• Absolute income poverty, where households have less than 60% of the median income in 2010/11, uprated by inflation
• Destitution, where you can’t afford basics such as shelter, heating and clothing.” (2020)

Families had already felt the effects of a decade of health inequality through Austerity measures under a Conservative government, with The Marmot Review 10 Years on summarising,  “Rates of child poverty, a critical measure for early child development, have increased since 2010 and are now back to their pre-2010 levels with over four million children affected” (2020, p.36). 

The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected unemployment levels with them steadily rising month on month since March 2020. Unemployment is currently its highest since July 2016, at 4.9% (ONS, 2020). Due to the impact of government restrictions forcing many businesses to close, redundancies are currently a record high at 370,000 (ONS, 2020). This suggests that there are many new people not only in poverty, but also in destitution. This has impacted services, such as food banks which forecasted a 61% increase in food parcels between October-December with half of those using food banks, never accessing them before (Trussell Trust, 2020).

The current state of food poverty has affected so many, that footballer, Marcus Rashford started a Child Food Poverty Taskforce to form a coalition with charities and food businesses to provide aid for children facing food poverty. This caused reactions from politicians such as Kevin Hollinrake MP, who tweeted “where they can, it’s a parent’s job to feed their children” (2020). Kevin is correct but, when someone questions why it takes celebrity endorsement to support those in need and he responds this way he forgets the clear message in the Working together to Safeguard Children guide which simply states “safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility” (2018, p.11). Furthermore, The Children Act 1989 Section 17 (1) (a) (b) clearly states “It shall be the general duty of every local authority (in addition to the other duties imposed on them by this Part)—

(a)to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and

(b)so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families” (2020). The welfare of children should always be of paramount consideration, so comments such as Kevin Hollinrake MPs create further division, rather than a community cohesion, which is going to be crucial for families facing poverty at no fault of their own. 

COVID-19 has highlighted that inequality and socioeconomic conditions could be a contributing factor to infection rates and unfortunately mortality, which affects different groups. Living in an area of higher deprivation in poor living conditions leaves higher mortality rates. During austerity measures housing conditions had already deteriorated over a decade, so life expectancy can be assumed a further risk with Marmot, et al stating, “Overcrowded living conditions and poor quality housing are associated with higher risks of mortality from COVID-19 and these are more likely to be in deprived areas and inhabited by people with lower incomes” (2020, p.14). Furthermore, although the virus cannot be racist, Black, Asian and minority groups have higher mortality rates. The Office of National Statistics state “Males of Black African ethnic background had the highest rate of death involving COVID-19, 2.7 times higher than males of White ethnic background” (2020). This could suggest that not only are these groups living in areas of higher poverty, but also exposed to occupations placing them a further risk of contracting the virus without appropriate personal protective equipment. Afua Hirsch concurs highlighting, “the NHS has always been heavily dependent on ethnic minority staff, who today make up more than 40% of its medical workforce” (2020). Could this be evidence of racial and class based discrimination? Marmot et al agree and argue, “These risk factors are the result of longstanding inequalities and structural racism” (2020, p.14). 

So, when UNICEF and other humanitarian groups that provide aid are accused of making cheap political stunts, it could be argued that these views are acts of insecurity by those in positions of power, that are failing to keep UK citizens needs at the heart of their decision making. 

Duane Phillips 

References 

HM Government, (2020) The Children act, 1989 chapter 41, available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents (accessed 18/12/20)

HM government, (2018) Working Together to Safeguard Children, available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/779401/Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf (accessed 18/12/20) 

Hirsch. A, (2020) If coronavirus doesn’t discriminate, how come black people are bearing the brunt? The Guardian, available at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/08/coronavirus-black-people-ethnic-minority-deaths-pandemic-inequality-afua-hirsch (accessed 18/12/20)

Holinrake. K, [@kevinhollinrake] (2020) Where they can, it’s a parents job to feed their children, [Twitter] September 2020. Available at https://twitter.com/kevinhollinrake/status/1302501063522766848 (accessed 18/12/20)

Joseph Rowntree Foundation, (2020) How is poverty measured in the UK?, available at https://www.jrf.org.uk/our-work/what-is-poverty (accessed 18/12/20)

The Telegraph, (2020) ‘Political stunt’: Jacob Rees-Mogg slams Unicef support for UK children in poverty, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2hc5Kw3NfA (accessed 18/12/2020)

The Trussell Trust, (2020) New report reveals how coronavirus has affected food bank use. available at https://www.trusselltrust.org/2020/09/14/new-report-reveals-how-coronavirus-has-affected-food-bank-use/ (accessed 18/12/20)

Office for National Statistics, (2020) Updating ethnic contrasts in deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales, available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020(accessed 18/12/20)

Office for National Statistics, (2020) Unemployment, available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment (accessed 18/12/20)

UK Parliament, (2013) Daily Hansard – Debate, available at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130416/debtext/130416-0003.htm (accessed 18/12/20)

UK Parliament, (2019) Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill, available at https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-07-09/debates/87A66283-DF13-4CC8-9069-48974EA40346/NorthernIreland(ExecutiveFormation)Bill (accessed 18/12/20)

UK Parliament, (2019) Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill, available at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-07-18/division/C0E289C6-2AAE-4A18-81BE-6EC7B48D099C/NorthernIreland(ExecutiveFormation)Bill?outputType=Names (accessed 18/12/20)