It is a common moan that there is a gulf between politicians and real life. In Britain people talk about London’s “Westminster village,” as if politicians, civil servants and political journalists live in a bubble disconnected from 68 million British citizens.
In the US, people sneer about “inside the beltway” - the ring road around Washington DC. Listening to our current Conservative party drama in Britain concerning British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, or the plotting against US President Joe Biden in Congress, you can see why the gap between politicians and citizens can seem like a gulf.
In Britain a well known chef, Jack Monroe, points out that this gulf includes statistics beloved by political experts – Gross Domestic Product, inflation and so on – which she suggests are not the numbers which matter most to many individuals. She’s right. Monroe campaigns on hunger, healthy eating and poverty and is outraged by how inflation is calculated in Britain. It is not because the figures are wrong, but because what economists measure has often little to do with the spending choices that less well-off people must make.
The UK government’s “consumer price index” (CPI) noted a 5.4 per cent increase in prices in December, the highest level for nearly 30 years. But Monroe points out that the CPI is calculated on a collection of 700 different goods, from a leg of lamb to bedroom furniture and television sets. She calls this “darkly comical” because poorer people cannot afford new furniture, electrical goods, or large pieces of expensive meat, especially since the prices of the things they do need to buy have shot up.
For years Monroe collected the prices of cheaper supermarket food, including stock cubes, budget flour, rice and pasta. She found that some items in the low budget shopping basket have increased by more than 100 per cent. Other low-budget ranges have been discontinued altogether. Monroe is now compiling, with other volunteers, activists and experts, a new “price index” to reflect this reality because – she argues – traditional measures of inflation do not get to the heart of food poverty.
All this comes as a data-based report by the organisation Censuswide put figures on UK food waste. They calculate that 76 million food items are thrown away every week in Britain. That’s the equivalent of three items every week for every British household, and it adds up to more than a billion pounds of British food waste per year.
The waste includes more than 900 million potatoes, 700 million tomatoes and about the same number of carrots per year. Most consumers say they feel guilty about waste but many said it was because they did not know what to cook and did not know enough recipes. To throw one further statistic in the mix, a friend showed me a British website to find the addresses of food banks nearby by entering a postcode. I was surprised to find there are now as many as five food banks in my neighbourhood, some associated with churches, others independent, in an area where statistically average weekly pay is above the UK national average.
This is where the disconnection between statistics, “averages” and the daily experience of many of us begins to bite. It is also where politics and government policies really matter. Most politicians – at least the ones I know personally – want to do the best for people. And politicians can make a difference. But the ones who shout loudest and posture most often could help more if they spent less time trying to deflect from political scandals and more time trying to figure what to do for those who, as the campaigner’s catch-phrase goes, “have to choose between heating and eating” this winter.
Sell-by dates are a guide, not an instruction
Monroe’s campaign to produce inflation figures that reflect the real lives of poorer people is a start. Government action on waste and better education in schools on cooking healthy food would also help. Millions of us put perfectly edible food in the bin as a result of well-intentioned labelling with “use by” dates.
When I was a post-graduate at university, living on a low budget in a large block of student accommodation, I spotted my neighbour, a PhD biology student, pulling a plastic bag of carrots discarded in our communal bin. He peeled the carrots and put them in a stew. When I seemed shocked he explained that the carrots looked and smelled fine, and our grandmothers would have known they were perfectly edible. He was right. I have never forgotten that thrifty lesson.
There is an open goal for governments round the world to show they are in touch with the real lives of real people by endorsing this common sense approach, reminding us “sell-by” dates are a guide, not an instruction, and by working with supermarkets to reduce waste.
The politicians I know want to bridge the gap of understanding with the public. They could start by thinking less about statistics which matter for macro-economic theories and more about the numbers to guide the micro-decisions we all have to take.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
