Children’s writer/phenomenon JK Rowling reminded the world of her humble beginnings in an article in The Times on Wednesday when she called out the Conservative party on its treatment of single parents. The party, which the “Potter” author refers to as “the nasty party,” has been claiming a transformation in a series of ads that start with “I’ve never voted Tory before, but…” Rowling objects to this claim, pointing out that the Conservative party’s plan to provide a 150 pound annual tax break to married couples and civil partners is emblematic of the fact that their attitudes towards the poor and disenfranchised haven’t actually changed at all.
The fact that David Cameron says of the married’s tax break, “it’s not the money, it’s the message” makes this clear, in Rowling’s eyes:
“Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say “it’s not the money, it’s the message”. When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money. If Mr Cameron’s only practical advice to women living in poverty, the sole carers of their children, is “get married, and we’ll give you £150”, he reveals himself to be completely ignorant of their true situation.”
Rowling describes her own life following the 1993 break up of her marriage, which left her living the supposedly “easy life” of state benefits and state-funded housing, and makes it clear that her current good fortune, being rich and married, doesn’t mean she thinks that those who aren’t should be punished. Adding insult to the injury she sees in the “marginalization of the single, the divorced and the widowed” by the Conservatives, she points out that the deputy chairman of the party, Lord Ashcroft, keeps the majority of his wealth off shore in order to remain “non-domiciled” and not pay many UK taxes. Rowling, who has amassed a rather staggering fortune due to her novels, all of which she pays taxes on, finds this reprehensible. “It would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven figure royalty cheque,” she says. She says she owes a debt to the British welfare state, and she’s more than happy to pay to help other women like herself. Which is why, as she puts it, “[she's] never voted Tory before..and they keep on reminding [her] why.”
