It's the Same the Whole World Over

"It's the same the whole world over,

It's the poor what gets the blame,

It's the rich what gets the pleasure,

Ain’t it all a bleeding shame?"

I’ve been on a fair few pickets, lobbies and protests over the years where (especially in the East End) this music hall ditty was sung heartily by all those present. The tune and chorus have always been the same but the lyrics of the verses - dare I say – were usually somewhat more direct and lively!

I thought of the chorus yesterday when I was on an underground train going to a TUPE/ redundancy meeting in West London. I was reading the pension magazine “Engaged Investment” and a cheerily named article called “How Long is Life?” It was a bit teckie but one statistic did horrify me about the impact of income inequality in this country.

“...the extent to which salary affects life expectancy: an individual between 60 and 65 years old earning less than £15,000 is more than three times as likely to die in the following year than someone earning more than £35,000”.

So we have it - inequality kills - Something must be done...BTW The Tories ain't going to do it.