Whores of Babylon
Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 09:53PM 
Few who read ATW regularly will know Dewsbury Moor. I know it only too well. A vast council estate on the western edge of Dewsbury itself, where crime is double the national average. It's the closest thing the Spen Valley has to a zoo, with many inhabitants brandishing permanently grazed knuckles where they have been dragging them along the pavement. Its citizens could keep the Jeremy Kyle Show going for an entire season. Driving through the labyrinthine streets, you'd be forgiven for thinking the locals are in competition with the town's Muslims to see who can produce the most children. The fertility rate on Dewsbury Moor appears to be the highest outside of Niger. If you see anyone over the age of 40 you have a desire to take a photograph for posterity. In short, it's a cesspit: a vast red-bricked jungle of 'Willy Won't Works', Chlamydia-infested tarts with legions of state-sponsored sprogs, and a culture where education and personal advancement are indicative of homosexual status.
Forgive me if I've given the impression 'The Moor' is an isolated case in today's broken society. It is anything but. Every single major city and conurbation in the UK is blighted by such contemporary slums as never before. I don't mean 'slums' in the Gorbals or Hell's Kitchen context. The houses are kept to a reasonable standard by the consumption of taxpayers' money and most are adorned with satellite dishes. I mean slums in the moral and social context. These are places where people are so attuned to living their lives off the backs of everyone else, they don't care about anything. Lifestyles here are provided, not earned, and the principles of discipline and respect disappeared long ago.
David Cameron is right to highlight the existence of these places and link them to the potential for a repeat of the Shannon Matthews saga. I'm sorry to piss on James Purnell's parade (the Minister who castigated Cameron for his remarks), but something like this would never happen in Ilkley, Wetherby, Menston or Bramhope. I appreciate the fact that all these places are affluent parts of West Yorkshire, but the existence of affluence is only part of the reason. Before the scourge of the welfare state in all its vast complexities, being in relative poverty was something to escape from by virtue of hard work and perseverance. True it didn't work in all, or indeed in the majority of, cases. However, criminality was low because it was not only punished by the full force of the law, it was also subdued by common bonds of family and community ties and principles. The evaporation of the latter brought about by the 'something for nothing' expectation engendered by the safety net of a lavish benefit culture has created ticking time bombs in many parts of the country.
Take Karen Matthews for example. She had seven kids by five different fathers. When she was lying on her back playing pickle me, tickle me with the latest male primate she'd picked up in some Dewsbury hell-hole, did she ever stop to think about the financial implications of adding to Spen Valley's population? Not on your syphilitic aortitis, matey!! Having another kid would simply reap more money from the government. And when money comes that easily to something with a sick mind, who's to say they won't resort to more disgusting ways of gleaning money from the system? Matthews did. How many others would?
This government will not instigate the necessary welfare reforms to cure Britain of its benefit reliance. I fear there will be more cases of a comparable nature in the future. For socialists though, people like Karen Matthews are as much victims as perpetrators. Until they stop punishing the hard working and the law-abiding, whilst offering fiscal comfort blankets to Jeremy Kyle's Guinea pigs, the cycle of broken Britain will keep on rolling.
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Reader Comments (39)
Excellent post Andrew. Karen Mathews is a sad and thankfully rare individual(hardly any of even the most feckless welfare mothers would do what she did) but the aspirational and cultural vacuum that you mention in these places is oh so prevalent nowadays.
Andrew -
Well said.
An apt photo too. Not just for the once-beautiful West Yorkshire landscape scarred by collectivist housing projects, but for the house in the centre.
It's boarded up, empty, the scum tenants gone (evicted?) yet the new roof betrays the evidence of a couple of grand stolen from working Britons and blown away on these wasters.
Someone only had to work half a year to pay for that.
Did you get dumped by someone from Dewsbury Moor?
Pete
You can't assume the reasons for the emptiness of that property. The previous tenants may well have been the very aspirational people Britain needs who got out of there fed up with the soullessness and dependency of the place.
Why is part of the roof tile and the other part shingle?
Charles
It's either theft, or modern art :)
My first impression on seeing the photo was that looked like a pleasant area
Charles
They're two homes, not one. You see the windows nearest the camera are boarded up, to keep out vandals, pikies, hooligans and other riff raff. The unboarded windows are of the adjoining and lived-in home.
No doubt in my mind - the habited home is owned, bought by the owner from the council 30 years ago by someone who works (and therefore doesn't qualify for 'benefits' - quite right too).
The nearer house has never been privately owned. That's why the council has replaced the roof with money purloined from the rest of us. The last council tenant to live there hase been evicted - probably he's in prison or a drug rehab home.
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this stuff out; it's the same old story.
Pete
That is just wild supposition. As I said earlier you have no idea why the previous tenants left and could well be falsely maligning them.
Oh, by the way, there's also the satellite dish clamped to the empty gaff.
No doubt a plastic pizza is still whirring round a microwave in the kitchen.
Colm -
Oh come on. These places are all over the shop. It's the same old story.
Why is it decent, middle class areas never have boarded houses like these?
Because they're decent, middle class areas with decent middle class Britons in them, not welfare crack addict scum.
Flipping hell Pete, it aint just the dole scum chavs who have SKY dishes. Whatever nest , you'll be judging them for not paying their TV licences.. eh ;)
Colm -
One other thing - you live near the Oval. Don't pretend you've never seen a block of craphole council flats with satellite dishes adorning every inch of brickwork.
Your neighbourhood's full of them.
PETE
Can you not comprehend. The tenants have gone, yes maybe for the eviction resons you claim but also possibly becaue they moved up to a decent middle class area. Neither you or I actually know who the previous tenants of the pictured house were, but only you are claiming to be so certain.
The whores of Babylon were amazing and wondrous women Andrew - they had a whole bunch more class than the feckless pig ignornant welfare male and female creatures you talk about.
PETE
Yes of course I have, but what's wrong with satellite dishes ? Do they determine the moral stature of the residents .
“A vast council estate on the western edge of Dewsbury itself”
“Forgive me if I've given the impression 'The Moor' is an isolated case in today's broken society. It is anything but. Every single major city and conurbation in the UK is blighted by such contemporary slums as never before”
“David Cameron is RIGHT to highlight the existence of these places and link them to the potential for a repeat of the Shannon Matthews saga.”
Andrew McCann. If these social problems are, as you allege, so endemic why do you use the singular case of the absolutely despicable individual Karen Mathews as an indication that such evils are widespread?.
Surely, as your blog explicitly implies, if such behaviour was directly linked to such cruel and inhuman child abuse then such extreme examples, like Mathews, would be two-a-penny?.
“This government will not instigate the necessary welfare reforms to cure Britain of its benefit reliance”
One question Andrew McCann. Are you aware if your social care clients, you know, those that pay your wages, are dependant on government subvention and, if so how many and to what degree?
WOW! Colm a South Londoner. Would've thunk?.
Paul
There is a huge difference between genuinely physically and mentally disabled dependents and the sort of people Andrew is talking about in his post. I do however agree with you that Karen Mathews is too isolated and extreme a case to base a general assumption on.
PS - I do hope I haven't made too many spelling or grammatical errors sir. ;)
Is that such a shock. Where did you think I was from ? Timbuctoo ?
Satellite dishes
I would think that the general statement is that those who live off their neighbors might be better served looking for work rather than watching the telly all day.
Agreed Phantom, but as I said, not every home with a dish is full of workshy slobs.
As a happy subscriber to the Directv satellite service, I certainly hope not!!
Very strange repartee on this post today.
hey! Charles of Texas...them ain't shingles; them's are welsh slates. Shingles are wooden.
Those Marley Pan tiles are a cheap replacement for those original slates, which were probably stripped off by albanian crackheads and sold to the house behind it.
Yeee har! Now you know Texas Charles!!
Karen Matthews - an unmarried slob with multiple slob offspring by multiple slob boyfriends.
Good grief, of course she's not an isolated case. It's exactly Karen Matthews of once Great Britain who are two a penny.
"There is a huge difference between genuinely physically and mentally disabled dependents and the sort of people Andrew is talking about in his post"
That's a fair point Colm but the matter that I refer to is state subvention may pay a considerable amount of A McC’s wage.
“PS - I do hope I haven't made too many spelling or grammatical errors sir. ;)
Top marks this time, but…I will be checking!!
“Is that such a shock. Where did you think I was from? Timbuktu?"
With hindsight probably not. After all, Sarf London, [to use a topically appropriate stereotype], is the home of various spivs, charlatans, wide boys & smut merchants.
;0)
Bernard, thanks, I thought the terra cotta were the expensive ones! Slates here would be quite expensive, but we don't need'em.
Pete
are you really saying that women who would do (do do) what KM did are 2 a penny?
Is it alright for me to have cable? ;o)
As someone who is just a twice a year visitor to your country, I've never seen any of this. It's evidently a parallel universe that most tourists or business travelers never see.
Not that this is a competition anyone wants to be in, but our city of Detroit is even worse than what is described here, by a lot, and may be the ultimate result of welfare plus lax enforcement of crime over a long period of time. I saw it with my own eyes ten years ago, and its only gotten worse since.
Frightening stuff.
I would suggest that such enclaves exist in every city and large town in most parts of the globe Phantom.
Frightening stuff.
Detroit has and still makes some amazing music though. Due in no small part to the bleakness of its built environment.
Alison should appreciate these wee numbers even if nobody else does ;P
I hate the likes of Jeremy Kyle he is as objectionable as those desperados who appear on his programme and publically humiliate themselves for a few quid. Hes like one of those victorian employers who shouts at thse who havent had the benefits of his private education and posh background.
Anybody brought up in a working class area in the 1950s got a very different atitude displayed by those in authority.
After the war the countries housing was a disgrace , many living in what later was part of the slum clearences. This did not deter the councils Public Health department. They would knock on the door, push their way in , on the pretence say the doctor had informed them, a child had scarlet fever , and say they were going to make a full inspection. After visiting all the rooms , he would then give them a list of improvements to be made and that he would be back next week to see they had been done otherwise he would "slap a bloody notice on them! These houses were back to back , roofs leaked , floorboards rotted, ceiling and wall plaster were crumbling . When anybody complained about the conditions they were ignored , told they would be rehoused soon and the property would be demolished. The rent man wouldnt do a thing, but still called for the rent. How times have changed! Everybody just got on with it! They also had an old fashioned patriotism now scorned on, all the streets would be decorated for the 12th or the Coronation! Nowadays you have to wait for England to get to the World Cup before a flag goes up!
'Are you aware if your social care clients, you know, those that pay your wages, are dependant on government subvention and, if so how many and to what degree?'
I think to use people who are physically disabled or born with a servere mental deficiency and use it in the context of the 'state subvention' argument shows a massive amount of pig-ignorance.
Still, when you consider the moral relativism that comes from the same mind in relation to matters Northern Irish, is it any wonder?
“I think to use people who are physically disabled or born with a severe mental deficiency and use it in the context of the 'state subvention' argument shows a massive amount of pig-ignorance”
You may think what you want – it still doesn’t detract from the fact that it happens and I didn’t use the case of those unfortunate enough to be born with a disability as a vehicle to argue that state support of such vulnerable shouldn’t exist. I used it as a demonstration that those such as you who are so vociferously vocal in your tirade against state welfareism seemingly have no qualms when it means that you personally profit.
But of course you already knew that.
‘Moral relativism’ is a cop out. It is merely a device used as a stock phrase to stonewall discussion by those whose hypocrisy regarding the use of violence
is exposed.
England a land populated by pot bellied Sun reading larger louts with few if any redeeming qualities.
Is it being suggested that Andrew is himself an imbiber at the governmental teat?
Say it ain't so.
'I used it as a demonstration that those such as you who are so vociferously vocal in your tirade against state welfareism..'
And in your usual desperation to have the last word, you completely forget the principle that 'one size does not fit all'. Another difference is that I actually have to put in a great deal of hard work and care to 'profit' from 'state welfarism', whilst those such as Matthews only have to lie on their backs in a 'Y-shaped' position.
'Moral relativism’ is a cop out. It is merely a device used as a stock phrase to stonewall discussion by those whose hypocrisy regarding the use of violence
is exposed.'
No, it is used to highlight the disease affecting those who cannot distinguish between legitimate and lawfully-endorsed means of crushing an opposition, and those who resort to unlawful, terrorist means of enforcing their view on everybody who does not subscribe to their agenda.
Got it?
“You completely forget the principle that 'one size does not fit all'
Did the size of Karen Mattews fit when you used it to make an assumption and collectively denigrate the entire population of a geographical area?
Hypocrite
“Another difference is that I actually have to put in a great deal of hard work and care to 'profit' from 'state welfarism”
Just like any other public employee that has the often thankless task of working with any disadvantaged, excluded or vulnerable group.
“No, it, [moral relativism], is used to highlight the disease affecting those who cannot distinguish between legitimate and lawfully-endorsed means of crushing an opposition, and those who resort to unlawful, terrorist means of enforcing their view on everybody who does not subscribe to their agenda”
Do you mean such legitimate and lawfully-endorsed means such as advocating the poisoning of the water supply to whole areas such as South Armagh & West Belfast?
“Got it?”
Oh I’ve got it alright … hypocrite
'Did the size of Karen Mattews (sic) fit when you used it to make an assumption and collectively denigrate the entire population of a geographical area?'
Entire? Nowhere in my piece do I indicate that the 'entire' population of Dewsbury Moor are like Karen Matthews, a fact that would have been detected by someone with a better intellect than your good self.
Pillock!
'Just like any other public employee that has the often thankless task of working with any disadvantaged, excluded or vulnerable group.'
Just like any other public employee? Perhaps. But certianly not those who wouldn't know a hard day's work if it hit them in the face, and yet still accrue more revenue that some of the aforesaid public employees themselves.
'Do you mean such legitimate and lawfully-endorsed means such as advocating the poisoning of the water supply to whole areas such as South Armagh & West Belfast?'
Wasn't aware that my personal preferences for putting down Irish republican filth were standard practice among HM Armed Forces stationed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Must have missed that one (LOL).
'Oh I’ve got it alright … hypocrite.'
Oh you've got it alright....by the stinking bucketful.
PS. When it comes to obnoxious little specimens like you, I'll always have the last word........one way or the other.