“Why sanction children?” – On the road in Wigan

We visit the town made famous by George Orwell for its deprivation in the 1930s and find parts of it standing tall – and others beaten down by the cuts.

By Anoosh Chakelian

The image of Wigan crafted by George Orwell has resulted in a less than warm response to the author in the town itself. (Photo By Getty)

Mentioning George Orwell’s name in Wigan is controversial. For many here, his 1937 study of working-class plight in the industrial north has turned their town into a byword for deprivation – and they don’t thank him for it. Frowns and awkward pauses are common reactions to the constituency’s unofficial biographer so celebrated beyond the precincts of this old mill town.

Even today, The Road to Wigan Pier is used to describe bleak conditions too many communities in England continue to endure. The Office of Budget Responsibility warned at the end of last year, following George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, that his plan for further cuts would take Britain back to the spending levels of Thirties depression time. The BBC’s Norman Smith angered the cabinet by in turn reporting that the country is on the way to the “land of The Road to Wigan Pier”.