How did Blair's policies help though, they are the party of the working /poor man? Poverty grew under Blairs Labour they admitted they failed on not only bridging the gap but making it worse
www.theguardian.com/society/2009/may/08/poverty-equality-britain-incomes-poor
"Britain under Gordon Brown is a more unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s, after the incomes of the poor fell and those of the rich rose in the three years after the 2005 general election"
"Deprivation and inequality in the UK rose for a third successive year in 2007-08, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions that prompted strong criticism from campaign groups for the government's backsliding on its anti-poverty goals"
"In a further blow, the government failed to make a dent in the number of children or pensioners living in poverty after big increases the previous year. Almost 17,000 more children in England are on free school meals this year compared with last, according to government data also published yesterday"
"Even before the onset of the UK's deepest recession in a generation, official figures showed that only the better-off families were spared from a squeeze on living standards that saw median income virtually unchanged and fresh cuts in real pay for those on the lowest salaries"
"Since Tony Blair's third election victory, the poorest 10% of households have seen weekly incomes fall by £9 a week to £147 once inflation is accounted for, while those in the richest 10% of homes have enjoyed a £45 a week increase to £1,033"
^ This is your ground work for Food Banks Grimes. Adding in Credit Crunch and then immigrants.
Ministers all but admitted that Labour had abandoned the 2010 goal of halving child deprivation from the 3.4m total at the turn of the millennium but insisted that the party was committed to abolishing it entirely by 2020
"Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo's, said: "Today's figures provide confirmation that Labour have abandoned their bravest commitment – to halve child poverty by 2010. For the families left to languish in the misery and debt that poverty inflicts, that is a tragedy"
"Colette Marshall, UK director of Save the Children, said: " It is outrageous that so many children continue to miss out on the basic necessities most take for granted. Today's figures show the government will fall well short of its 2010 target. In 2001 Gordon Brown referred to child poverty as a 'scar on Britain's soul'.
[It] is taking a very long time to heal"
With all this shameful record going on, Blair thought it a good idea to shit on the poor even more - by inviting millions of very poor people here to benefit the rich business owners he supported.