The BBC sports presenter Jason Mohammad has voiced anger at a lack of government help for the Ely estate in Cardiff where he grew up, 30 years after the so-called bread riots erupted in the area.
'Bread riots'..? Were people starving in Ely, then?
Ely remains among the most deprived areas of Wales in terms of income, employment, health and education, according to the Welsh government, which classes part of the area as suffering among the worst “deep-rooted deprivation” in Wales.
Gosh! Who knew?
“I feel angry that the Westminster government and the Senedd government haven’t addressed the needs of these people,” Mohammad said. “They’ve cried out for help for years. Sometimes I think no one has listened.”
How have they 'cried out for help', then?
Mackay said: “It seems cool now to ride a bike around Ely and smash a window. People are filming it on social media and people are becoming famous on LADbible and some of these platforms … The behaviours and attitudes are still in the area.”
Ah. The same way all the other rioters in history have, it seems...
Asked about Mohammad’s view, Drakeford said that Tony Blair’s government delivered “unprecedented levels of investment in community assets and new economic opportunities for young people”.
But they clearly prefer making arses of themselves to working for a living...
There will always be such a class of people as long as the welfare state continues to support them no matter if they work or not.
ReplyDelete"They’ve cried out for help for years"
ReplyDeleteBut never tried to get a job
As Wales now has its own "government", maybe they should do something.
ReplyDeleteIt is something that those with socialist leanings can never understand. People are different, have different abilities. Different levels of resourcefulness. The tendency of a certain area to be bit of a shithole is self perpetuating because anyone who has anything about them tends to leave at the earliest possible opportunity. What do you suppose would happen if the government did throw a mountain of money into this area in an attempt to improve it? They would convert it into an idyllic garden village and within six months it would be a shithole again.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they could all get a well-paid job at the BBC reading an autocue and moaning about Brexit?
ReplyDeleteJaded
I've worked alongside any number of young people in various jobs who came from some very rough areas and often very bad family circumstances. Loads of them got off their arse and made something of their lives, and of those that did I don't recall a single one saying that government intervention or "investment" had anything to do with it.
ReplyDeleteI've worked with some rough and daft lads too. But they were hard workers who were making a living and paying their way. There was also a guy who was hired to work in our warehouse and, on his second week, turned up for work off his head on drugs. Who's fault will it be if this idiot ends up living on the streets?
ReplyDelete"But never tried to get a job"
ReplyDeletePerish the thought!
"As Wales now has its own "government", maybe they should do something."
What's the Welsh for 'More popcorn, please!'..?
"Loads of them got off their arse and made something of their lives, and of those that did I don't recall a single one saying that government intervention or "investment" had anything to do with it."
I genuinely believe that a work ethic is something you're born with, and it's very difficult to train into someone who wasn't born with it.