The increased inequality between rich and poor across the North West is due to a government who ‘betrayed a generation’, according to a Wythenshawe MP.
Labour MP Mike Kane has drawn a direct link between this prevalent issue and government’s lack of a sense of responsibility when it comes to supporting poorer communities.
The MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East has blamed a ‘globalisation of the poor and a localised rich’ as determinative factors in the failure of the UK government to put an end to inequalities in British society.
Mr Kane, who won his seat in the February by-election with more than 50% of the vote, was speaking in a debate at Friend’s Meeting House as part of Manchester University’s policy@manchester week.
He said: “Inequality has always existed and action is the oxygen of organisation. We simply have to do better.”
The ‘The big debate: What should we do about inequality?’ saw Mr Kane engage in a public back-and-forth with Conservative and Liberal Democrat representatives.
The Labour politician also claimed the city’s working-class students still feel pressured to attend Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) instead of the University of Manchester, which is part of the British elite university Russell Group.
He added: “Working class students in the city go to MMU. It has to change. We have to do more. Admittedly, it’s getting better but kids in the city deserve the very best.
“Why is it fair for a working man to pay taxes for the 50% of those to go to university when he couldn’t afford to go himself?”
The decision the increase in tuition fees in 2010 to a maximum of £9,000, after the Liberal Democrats promised in their manifesto not to raise fees, was also slammed by Mr Kane, who argued it has made it harder for poorer students to obtain a higher education.
“The worst thing you can do in politics is make a promise and not keep it. It betrayed an entire generation,” he said.
He also believes the current state of global economics has led to a globalised poor and a localised rich, creating a huge power divide.
He said: “The gap is getting larger, power increases power. People in power must be shown poverty in order for them to change their opinion.”
Image courtesy of BBC via YouTube, with thanks.
