JAYWICK is the most deprived area in England and was one of the locations that the United Nations special rapporteur on poverty Philip Alston visited during his trip here in November. 

On July 2 a follow-up event took place in response to the publication of the report. 

Clacton Unite Community, working with University of Essex law and human rights team presented the event with the intention of explaining why this report is a potential game changer and how learning about human rights and how we are rights holders can empower communities. 

Governments and local authorities have a duty to ensure human rights are met but they are failing people.  

Andrew Fagan, human rights senior lecturer at the University of Essex, passionately explained: “Human rights are something you possess just by being human.

“It is often wrongly assumed that human rights apply only in far-off places, where people suffer the most severe forms of injustice. 

“As the UN report on extreme poverty in the UK demonstrates, many communities in this country, including Jaywick, are being systematically exposed to conditions which no human rights respecting government should tolerate.”

Social rights are human rights and they belong to everyone. These rights include the right to an adequate standard of living, adequate housing and food. The right to healthcare, education and social security. 

Alston’s report stated that 14 million people live in poverty — that is one fifth of the population. 

“In the fifth-richest country on Earth, one in five people live in poverty. 1.5 million live in destitution, which is an even worse form of poverty. One in three children live in poverty, that’s shocking, this is the fifth wealthiest country on Earth,” Fagan revealed.

He described how the government’s answer to poverty in Britain was employment but gave evidence as to why this was a cop-out and didn’t address the issue. 

“Almost 60 per cent of those in poverty are in a family where someone works.” 

Alston directly addressed the government’s deflection on this issue by saying we need to address the nature of employment, because if 60 per cent of those experiencing poverty are working, employment is not the solution. 

Fagan continued to raise further points on this subject. “2.8 million people in poverty are living with families where all the adults are in full time employment. So, the government’s response and policy direction has been for a long time, employment is the way to solve poverty. 

“On a level that sounds right, doesn’t it? People don’t want to spend their entire lives dependent on welfare. Well clearly the statistics don’t lie.”

Fagan continued to list the evidence found by Alston proving that poverty exists in Britain. 

“Record levels of hunger and homelessness, drastically reduced community services, dramatically falling life expectancy, dramatic cuts to legal aid and access to justice in the court system.” 

Lucy Davies from the Essex Law Clinic, told of how Alston described in his report that people are losing access in ways to implement their human rights via the justice system. 

“In North Essex and Suffolk there is no legal aid provider. In fact, 91 per cent of residents in East Anglia have no access to housing legal aid.”

She went on to offer the kind of help her department and students could give to the residents of Jaywick. 

“Our aim is to promote knowledge of legal rights and to facilitate access to justice.”

Lecturer in international human rights law Judith Bueno de Mesquita discussed how the recommendations in Alston’s report need to be implemented by central government and local authorities.  

“Now is the time for action,” she said. “We can use this as a checklist in a way for taking things forward, what has and what hasn’t been done and holding the government to account and hopefully over the months and the years, not every one of these recommendations are going to be actioned but hopefully we can have a good strike rate on some of them.”

Unite Community member Rebecca Rocket, a powerful speaker and activist for rights and equality, gave a compelling speech in Geneva at the United Nations on Friday June 28, speaking about her experience there and how inclusive Alston was and the great responsibility she felt to everyone she was representing in Britain. She recited haikus that she had used in her moving speech at the United Nations. 

All humans are born equal
On this our planet
We have human rights

Listen Amber Rudd
We say welfare is vital
Stop sanctions today

Listen Amber Rudd
We want jobs that pay
The real living wage

Passionate Jaywick community legend Danny Sloggett, creator of Jaywick Sands Happy Club, shared his experience of Jaywick and his positive ambition to make changes. 

He has, with the help of other community helpers, improved Jaywick but he wants to do so much more. 

“I think every community, all over the world should have a happy club. I don’t think it’s just for Jaywick — it’s for everyone and I would like to work with all communities all over the world to give people a voice. 

“Ever since we did the happy club, we’ve had many success stories.” 

Sloggett’s enthusiasm and natural solidarity to work together inspired the audience he ended his presentation by saying: “I think we can all learn from each other and we should all work together.”

Unite Community member Roy Kerr chaired the meeting but also spoke passionately about collective campaigns which have had success recently. 

“Do you remember ‘No blacks, No Irish, No dogs?’ Well you could say the modern-day equivalent is no DSS. So, it’s basically class discrimination.” 

He went on to describe how banks had been selling mortgages for buy to let, stating that they could not rent to DSS but how collective campaigns turned this around. 

“Some people in the world have got a lot of capital and a lot of wealth so they have power, but you can have people capital and basically as the name over there says unite. If people unite in solidarity they can win.”

Finally, policy director of Just Fair Koldo Casla spoke about how he uses reports such as the Alston report to document what is going on with social rights in Britain. 

He said that Just Fair works with people to teach them how to campaign for change. After he spoke about campaign workshops. 

Kerr asked if anyone who would be interested in such workshops could put their hand up. Over 90 per cent of the attendees put their hand up. 

This was a really encouraging moment and shows that after learning about human rights this community is ready to use them to work collectively and campaign for positive change in their community.