A Geordie Perspective


As you'd guess from the thread title I live and work in Newcastle for all my 52 years in a staunch Labour ward where a good number of scenes were filmed. This is not a true portrayal of benefit life here.

I have never seen a queue for a food bank, I've just had to google map the local one where the scene was filmed and no I've not seen ever any queue there.
Further up the road there's a few pubs, if Ken Loach had called in for a lunch time pint he'd have a job getting in because they are packed with claimants. I'm not knocking that it's their money and they can do what they like with it and their time but its clear to me they don't have to sell the home furniture to spend afternoons in The Raby.

I don't doubt that a huge number of people have difficulties in claiming what is rightfully there's but once they have and in my experience most succeed they go on to live a not wholly unbearable life.

It was to gloomy, to left wing and not an accurate description of life in the low employment boroughs of Newcastle upon Tyne. Not something I have seen anyway.

I'm Labour I'm certainly no Conservative or neo liberalist but parts of this city are booming. Its a beautiful city with a vibrant nightlife that does not come cheap to enjoy. There are too many service jobs that's a fact and the heavy industry is declining almost finished but Mr Loach has painted Newcastle with a grey paintbrush in this film (I wouldn't call it a movie) That's not my experience though this morning as I write it's a pretty miserable day outside.

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Do you think every other film is a 100% accurate potrayl of life in said area?

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You had to look up the location of the food bank because you didn't know where it was, but you know whether or not it's ever busy enough to have queues, and you know who you'll find in the pubs by it and how they all get their money?

Speaking as a former DWP employee who has also had a period on the dole and recently helped with collections and donations for local food banks, I found the film to be very well researched. There are always going to be some individuals who try to exploit the system and spend their money on things like drink, but there are plenty of decent people struggling to get by, and the film reflects that, which is something to celebrate because sadly plenty of others would rather believe that they're all wastrels who deserve what happens to them.

I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came out of screenings of this film upset, immediately making donations to the food banks.

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You ever been on the dole mate? Clearly not!!

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