Gordon Brown poverty-washing multibank pushed by Guardian

  • Post last modified:July 22, 2024
  • Reading time:8 mins read


With the advent of a New-New neoliberal lovelorn Labour Party government, what better time is there for a big corporate media politician rehabilitation parade? This time, it was head of the Labour right’s fanclub, the Guardian, dishing out all the fuss on Blair wingman, and former leader Gordon Brown’s act of truly selfless generosity.

As kids break up for the summer holiday, a smiling Brown in red tie is launching London’s first ever multibank. No, not even the Guardian is shameless enough to celebrate Brown bringing his financial expertise to the banking sector (sarcasm intended). This is Brown’s answer to the Tories’ callous class war crusade. Foodbanks are so last government.

Now, multibanks will offer a one-stop-shop for all the daily essentials Labour’s continued rancid class war politics will deny the poorest, and most marginalised, over the next five years.

Only, it wasn’t really Brown’s brainchild in the first place – nor even, as it turned out, the first multibank on the block in London either. Naturally, his vapid Victorian philanthropy redemption arc was in for a storm on social media.

Child poverty: Gordon Brown to the rescue with… multibanks

On Sunday 21 July, the Guardian published an article celebratorily titled: ‘Gordon Brown launches London’s first ‘multibank’ amid UK child poverty fears’

And so ensues an almost PR-esque piece lauding the former Labour leader’s new project – essentially an expanded foodbank – to tackle poverty. The so-called multibank will purportedly offer a range of the daily essentials to Londoners. As the Guardian reported:

The opening of Felix’s Multibank, which has the backing of former prime minister Gordon Brown and London mayor Sadiq Khan, is the latest in a growing network of multibanks.

Predictably, Brown’s little pet poverty project got short shrift on X. Plugging the gaps where the government should be stepping up is an all-too familiar theme after fourteen years of Tory austerity. Many pointed out the irony of Brown’s sticking-plaster solution, when Labour literally now has the keys to Number 10:

In particular, I’m old enough to remember when the new Labour government ignored calls to stop the cruel two-child benefit limit on benefits. That of course, would be because it happened in the King’s Speech, just last week:

In fairness to Brown, he has called Starmer’s Labour out on this previously. Now though, it seems old habits die hard. Specifically, the capitalist crony is resorting to playing public relations manager for big businesses seeking to massage their corporate reputation.

Notably, the new multibank will rely on supplies donated by corporations. Of course, billionaire strike-busting Bezos’ Amazon is keen to show off its charitable deeds:

Supplies donated by businesses, with Amazon the biggest contributor, will be distributed directly to teachers, social workers and other groups working directly with those struggling to afford basic necessities.

So good ol’ Gordo is giving the gift that keeps on giving. That is, until its corporate donors get over their fleeting flicker of conscience-turned-corporate-poverty-washing bravado. Capitalist cheerleader Labour could back striking workers and public sector pay rises. Or, I guess it could get the Labour right’s own magic grandpa Gordon on the case. Naturally too, with the aid of the very profiteering mega-corporations plunging workers into destitution:

Not the first multibank on the block

If the Gordon Brown-back-in-business revival wasn’t nauseating enough, it transpired the little vanity stunt wasn’t even the first multibank in London.

A grassroots group had in fact set up such a scheme five years earlier to help the local community living under brutal Tory austerity. The group raised this with the Guardian, but at the time of publication, it hasn’t corrected this in its article:

Some wondered what could possibly cause the liberal outlet to miss this community-driven initiative before now:

The Guardian gushing over Gordon Brown is no surprise, as the media mouthpiece of Starmerite Labour. A throwback to his Blairite predecessor is par for the course. Things the former red-tie Tory politician has done:

  • Bailout the banks after they engineered the 2008 capitalist financial crisis. Of course, this was under his watch as chancellor at the helm of New Labour.
  • Back the new Blair-look-alike Starmer for Labour leader, because please sir, more rampant capitalism.
  • Set up a glorified Victorian-style ‘deserving poor’ charity scheme.

But at least he hasn’t set up a for-profit ‘food pantry‘ right? Because god forbid we get another washed up politician exploiting poverty porn to be relevant again.

Feature image via the Canary





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