Letters: The UK does not care for anyone unless you are rich

Big Issue readers react to our articles on housing, election priorities and our interview with Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke – and her determination to help others affected by brain injury.

Housing horror

I am appalled with the UK and the housing situation. I came from Ireland in 1965 as a child and we were housed immediately in decent housing. In 2023 I lost my job and home and if not for the kindness of my neighbour offering me a room in her house, I would be on the street with cancer and a heart condition.

The authorities did not care; I worked for 47 years, and paid everything I was asked to pay, and for what? I am not alone. The UK does not care for anyone unless you are rich. Stories about Lambeth do not surprise me [​​’I’m sad, angry and confused’: These renters are being made homeless to house people already homeless]. In Coventry, I walk past boarded-up council properties and it is terrible.

David Myskow, Coventry 

RE: Emilia Clarke

I always love reading or watching any of Emilia’s interviews! She’s so kind and bubbly but she’s also full of wisdom and maturity and deep compassion. She’s a shining presence in the world. And she’s just a wonderful inspiration for all people. ❤️ 

@ethanolivares1, Instagram 

I really appreciate SameYou and Big Issue Recruit’s mission. After multiple head injuries and one I almost didn’t walk away from, this is a real challenge and I can’t say how grateful I am to see this effort.🙏💕✨ 

@darling_instigatah, Instagram 

I love when people take their tragedy and use it to help others. Going all in, that’s Emilia! 

@michellehagersmith, Instagram

Customer care

Nice wind-up, ‘Peers’ Carter from Kent. But just in case it isn’t. In your letter you describe those writing in as ‘far-left’ while you and your Kent Conservative contemporaries as ‘not far-right’ and for the Big Issue to “calm down a bit and be more reasonable and British. Try talking to your customers, not just yourselves.”

I am a long-standing ‘customer’ and love this unique weekly publication that speaks up and problem-solves for the disenfranchised victims of a society that is increasingly reverting to Victorian values.

I don’t consider myself particularly political but I am very worried about a society creeping ever closer to where it is normal’ to be hungry, homeless, poverty-stricken, and mentally ill. And where our public taxes are increasingly redirected as profits to private hospitals and services instead of directly to our NHS.

Even more pressing is the need to tackle our frighteningly over-heated planet and contaminated water, rivers and seas which Big Issue also recognises. Neither Conservatives nor Labour seem too bothered about any of these issues but these are what concern the Big Issue and its readers – and the Green Party and Liberal Democrats! Complacency is an option none of us can afford.  

Pat McKenna, Cardiff 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about housing or any of the other topics? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.