A former Scottish Secretary has launched a new charity to help young adults from the working class housing estate in Glasgow he grew up in. Jim Murphy said he will provide grants for people in Arden to enjoy the same opportunities as their middle class counterparts.
He told the Record: “People who cannot afford to buy their way out of inherited poverty shouldn’t be trapped into another generation of it.”
Murphy, a Scottish Labour MP between 1997 and 2015, was Gordon Brown’s Scottish Secretary and a prominent No campaigner in the independence referendum. He left front line politics after losing his seat and is now in charge of an international advisory firm.
Murphy, 57, grew up in Arden in the south west of Glasgow before his family moved to South Africa. A new charity he launches today, NextGenArden, will help young adults find opportunities at home rather than having to move abroad:
“Everybody needs a bit of a break in life. Our break came when we left Arden and emigrated. Not everyone’s break should be as dramatic as that.
“People shouldn’t have to move away. People shouldn’t have their ambitions limited simply because they can’t find the money. This is a genuine attempt to help people at a turning point in their lives.”
The charity will offer grants to people who are trying to enter the worlds of work, training and education: “When they leave school and they want to go to college or uni but can’t afford it, we will help with some of the costs. If they want to start an apprenticeship but can’t afford the tools, we’ll help with some of the costs.
“If they want to become a lorry driver and they can’t afford the lessons, we will pay for the costs. Anything to do with the world of work, the world of training or the world of education.
“One woman got in touch and said if you can’t afford to give me the money for driving lessons, can you give me the money for a bus pass so I can get to work?”
He added: “It’s giving people in Arden the type of support middle class parents often open up for their kids.”
Murphy lived with his great granny, granny, parents and one of his brothers in a cramped two bed flat growing up. He said his upbringing was “proud” and “rough” and he slept in a drawer as a baby: “I got the top drawer.”
He briefly led Scottish Labour and says of his outlook on society: “My politics are driven by class. I used to get into trouble saying that working class parents should have the chance to have middle class kids. And I don’t see that as a bad thing.
“Inequality is about class, wealth, networks, money and soft skills.”
He continued: “People who say class is nothing to do with politics completely misunderstand politics. Politics isn’t about identity. It’s about class.”
He added: “We get much more exercised about people who inherit wealth and what we should do about it than we do about families who inherit poverty and what we should do about it.
“This is a genuine attempt in one corner of Glasgow to start doing something about it.”
One potential obstacle for his charity could be the suspicion of locals: “I’ve been out talking to some people in Arden in the last few days and they say ‘what’s the catch!”
“That’s one of the things to get over – the cynicism.”
Murphy said he will initially be ploughing in £20,000 to the charity. He sums up how he would like to help people in Arden: “A chance to live your dream with less financial worry.”
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