George Osborne told the Today programme that:
It is unfair that [a] person leaves their home early in the morning and they pull the door behind them and they are going to do their job and they look at their next-door neighbour, the blinds are down and that family is living a life on benefits. That is unfair as well and we are going to tackle that as part of tackling this country’s economic problems.
The rhetoric has moved beyond simple scapegoating of the poor, and on to silliness. For the benefit of Osborne, here are other reasons why your neighbour may have their blinds down while you head to work:
- They may leave their blinds down for security reasons
- They may leave their blinds down because they leave home before it gets light
- They may leave their blinds down because they leave home before their children wake up
- They may leave their blinds down because they don’t want light in their house
- They may leave their blinds down because they work from home and don’t need to take a punishing commute
- They may leave their blinds down because they work a night shift and only just got back home before you left for work
- They may leave their blinds down because their disability means they require more sleep than people who have the good fortune to be healthy
- They may leave their blinds down because they don’t want to raise them and don’t really understand why that is now the test of whether or not they are thought of as “living a life on benefits”
If you’re wondering why Osborne decided to pick on that particular example, well. Just look at his neighbour’s house:
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