In Poplar and Limehouse, we experience the stark reality of inequality in our country.
Here, some of the highest rates of child poverty in the country are surrounded by huge amounts of wealth in financial centres of Canary Wharf and the encroaching City of London.
In the shadows of tall towers, I speak to people in Chrisp Street market or the Isle of Dogs regularly about what their biggest concern is, and the answer is usually economic insecurity.
People continue to have their living standards eroded by the enduring cost-of-living crisis.
Yet, here and beyond, working-class people are expected to simply work their way out of the chronic issues of rising rents and bills, flatlining wages, and insecure employment.
Most workers struggle to relate to Government narratives that the economy is improving, if evidenced by growth in GDP.
This is because those who can work have had their pay suppressed for decades, facing astonishingly high levels of inflation in recent years. They have a lived reality of economic exclusion.
Meanwhile, extreme wealth has continued to rise at an extraordinary rate, with an ever-greater share of this concentrated in the financial sector.
Just recently, the Equality Trust described our economic reality as reflecting a “ghost GDP”. Where the economy appears to be growing, the associated wealth and power are consolidated in the hands of the few. The rest of us are left experiencing and expecting decline.
It is true that our country has faced severe economic shocks in recent years. But this economic strife has also been the result of the Thatcherite economic model that has persisted for decades. Engaging finance and neglecting other industries, this has disempowered working-class people.
In this context, people in Poplar and Limehouse have concerns about reports that the Government have discussed potential tax cuts for JP Morgan Chase, should the American finance giant move their European Headquarters to Canary Wharf.
For independent grocers and small businesses, who pay full business rates, JP Morgan’s reported annual income of £43,000,000,000 is an eye-watering figure.
The point is that the UK’s grotesque inequality is only made possible because of how our economy is run, because of a commitment to an economic model which does not serve most people.
Fundamentally it is possible to change how our economy works, but it is a matter of political choices and interests – whether the interests of the majority, or of the super-rich few.
In Poplar and Limehouse, we are desperate for material change.
We will continue to demand real investment in our public services and infrastructure, and for local people to be involved in decisions that have impact us.
- Apsana Begum is Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse.
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