Tom Huxley

A change is in the air across Britain. A new divide is opening up: not between the rich and the poor, nor indeed the poor against the poor; but instead between those on both ends of the political spectrum who remain outraged at the depiction of the impoverished on ‘Benefits Street’, and the increasing millions that are glued to their screens actually watching it. The economically inactive are, as irony would have it, proving an extraordinary success for Channel 4.  It shouldn’t be surprising – it was after a noisy week of petitions, protests, and pugnacious press pieces that the viewing figures rose from an already impressive 4.1 million to 5 million.

The Synthetic Outrage Squad has been out in force over Channel 4’s Benefits Street, dubbing the series 'poverty porn' that 'demonises' a vulnerable group of people. In fact, as someone who’s lived in the city depicted on the programme for most of my life, what I saw not only rings true but also paints a rather flattering picture of life at the bottom in Birmingham. The reality can be much worse. Those who watched the second episode looking for ‘poverty porn’ would have wondered what all the fuss is about.