Politics, Poverty and Belief : A Political Memoir

'For the past half-century Frank Field has been an outstanding parliamentarian, social reformer and champion of the disadvantaged. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 16 and was expelled from it at the age of 78.' -Brian & Rachel Griffiths ' Frank Field is one of the most important, iconoclastic and remarkable politicians of his generation. This book is told with his Christian belief, regrets and all, and his trademark searing honesty.' -Nick Timmins In the increasingly dirty world of British politics, one man has stood out for unimpeachable integrity – the former Labour Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, Frank Field. In this touching but also profound memoir, the veteran former Labour MP and social campaigner Frank Field reveals the poverty of his own childhood and the deep and lasting effect of his Christian socialism. Field has spent his life fighting poverty in Britain, and has found allies on all sides of the political spectrum. In this book, Field talk about his activism, his foundational work with the Child Poverty Action Group and his work passing legislation for the Minimum Living Wage. He explains why he has dedicated his life to speaking out against the corruption of greed and power and writes with great alacrity about the titans of his political age, including Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. In the end, Field's zeal for reform was too much for too many people, and, in 2015, he was deselected by his own local Labour party. Politics, Poverty and Belief is an implicit indictment of modern British politics – the world of cash for questions, Partygate and all the rest – in which the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 contents 6 Introduction 8 Part I: Ideas and Images 24 Chapter 1: Political Manoeuvres Begin 26 Chapter 2: A Sacramental Worldview 30 Chapter 3: Human Nature in Politics: Self-Interested Altruism 36 Chapter 4: Christian Socialism: God is Everywhere or Nowhere 48 Chapter 5: The Kingdom of God 56 Chapter 6: Freedom, Without Which All is Lost 60 Part II: Ideas into Action 68 Chapter 7: Fighting Poverty: Child Benefit, Council House Sales and the Redistribution of Wealth, and the Minimum Wage 70 Chapter 8: Social Justice: Hunger, Modern Slavery, Cool Earth 96 Chapter 9: Preventing Poor Children from Becoming Poor Adults: Early Years, Parenting, Schools 118 Part III: The Culture of Respect 138 Chapter 10: The Ethic of Respect: A Left-Wing Cause 140 Chapter 11: The Balkanization of This Peaceable Kingdom 152 Part IV: I Lose Birkenhead 162 Chapter 12: I’m Out: Momentum Remains 164 Part V: Looking Forward 186 Chapter 13: The Dominance of Human Nature in My Political Views 188 index 200