I have a new job, starting next week, as a youth worker. I’m glad because it’s a good role, and I have had a tight couple of months after the last one I was doing – working with young people who are at risk of becoming involved with county lines activities – came to an end.
On the subject of youth work, I felt let down by Rishi Sunak’s speech at the Conservative party conference. He never mentioned the recent spate of knife crime incidents. Neither he nor Suella Braverman tweeted any form of condolences to the families who have lost children to knife crime. I’m hearing from parents and children that they are scared. Some families are actively looking to leave London to keep their children safe. The government must act urgently and sit down with youth workers and community organisations, and hold a Cobra meeting: this is a national crisis.
The conference was outrageous. Braverman depresses me so much. Her speech about a “hurricane” of migrants was shocking. Her language was toxic and divisive. You have to think Sunak is supporting that, because he then came out with some transphobia. And you know what was really disappointing? All the people who got up and gave them rapturous applause.
Jeremy Hunt’s plans to toughen the rules for universal credit claimants are also based on a lie, because 40% of claimants are already in work. What he’s saying doesn’t make sense. It just creates fear and hatred towards people who are claimants. The whole process is already demoralising. It makes you feel that you’re not worthy, a con artist, a fraud.
The Labour party conference gave me a spark of hope for a better future. While things will still be tough, the party will surely behave better than the one currently in power. However, although Keir Starmer did mention food banks, I was disappointed that he failed to say anything about universal credit and the need for reform.
Just the thought of universal credit gives me anxiety and stress. When I was between jobs, somebody said, it’s free money, and asked what I was complaining about. I had put a bit of money aside while I was earning, to give myself a cushion if I became unemployed again. I’m so glad I did this. It covered my rent and shopping while I was job hunting.
I wrote my play, The Perils of Universal Credit, after my own experience of being on universal credit. I’ve tried for months to find a venue to stage it, and last week two actors and I performed it at Fore Street Library in north London. The venue and tickets were free, but the show was self-financed. I bought T-shirts to advertise the name of the performance and the date. I organised flyers. I hired chairs. I’m invested that something will happen with this, because it’s relevant. We received amazing reviews and I hope we can tour, but I was disheartened to see that no MPs or charitable organisations came to see the show.
We want to raise awareness with the play, but we need solutions as well. We are campaigning for welfare reform. We want to raise the amount paid in line with inflation, get rid of the five-week wait, and stop deductions of outstanding debts, because that leaves claimants with practically nothing.
It’s been really positive to be so creative. I’ve got this show, then another show after that, a comedy called Femmetamorphosis about female friendship. That should keep me busy. I will have done a lot of acting work this year. I feel OK in my situation.
I haven’t lost my personal objectives to work and be creative. Yes, people are struggling. But we still have ambition, inspiration – and the desire to bring about change.
As told to Paula Cocozza. Sharron Spice is in her 30s and lives in London
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