The Emperor's New Clothes

Many years ago there lived an emperor

who cared so enormously for beautiful new clothes

that he spent all his money on them.

He had a coat for every hour of the day.

Then one day, 2 cheats came.

A weaver and a tailor.

They persuaded the emperor and courtiers

that they could weave beautiful clothes

that only people who are stupid cannot see.

"They would be capital clothes," thought the emperor.

And he gave the 2 cheats a great deal of cash in hand

so that they might begin their work at once.

They immediately demanded

the finest silk and the costliest gold.

This they put into their own pockets

and worked at the empty looms till late at night.

Everyone pretended they could see

the cloth the weaver was making.

The night before the procession

the weaver and tailor pretended to be

hard at work, completing the clothes.

Now the clothes are ready.

When the emperor put on the new clothes he said..

"...one would think one had nothing on at all

they are so light."

The procession began and everyone

pretended they could see the clothes

until at last a child in the crowd shouted out

"Oh, look. He's got nothing on!"

And then, straight away, the whole crowd shouted

"He has nothing on!"

Hans Christian Andersen doesn't say

what happened to the cheats.

Everything you're gonna hear about in this film

you already know.

You might not know the exact figures

but you know the big issue.

The rich are getting richer.

Inequality is getting greater..

But it doesn't have to be like this.

It can be different.

Of course, rich people like you to think

that it has to be this way

so they, we have to be rich.

But it doesn't.

Things can change.

Things do change.

This is Grays in Essex where I grew up.

I started at Little Thurrock Primary School

the year that Margaret Thatcher got elected.

And I would just like to remember

some words of St. Francis of Assisi.

"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace

"that where there is hatred, I may bring love.

"That where there is wrong

I may bring the spirit of forgiveness."

It always seemed a strange choice for Margaret Thatcher.

A bold choice.

"Where there is error, may we bring truth.

Where there is doubt, may we bring faith."

That's a bit more like the Thatcher

we came to know and love.

She is the truth, we must have faith in her.

She is basically Jesus with a hair helmet on.

A year later, she was joined by Ronald Reagan

the new President of America.

They were both followers of an economist

called Milton Friedman.

His theories were called "The Chicago School"

because that is where he taught in the 1950s.

For years, he was on

the lunatic fringe of economics.

But when Thatcher and Reagan came to power

his ideas became the new orthodoxy.

Cut government spending, cut tax rates

reduce government ownership and operation of industries

or regulation of industry.

This free market fundamentalism

was more than just a set of policies.

It was a way of looking at the world.

It took our worst instincts of selfishness

and greed and made them the basis

for how our society should be organized.

For the last 35 years, these ideas

have dominated both America and Britain.

We've been told let the rich get richer

and we will all benefit.

But all that has happened is the gap has got bigger and

bigger between the richest 1% and everybody else.

Hello.

We have a 100 children here, is that correct?

Are there a 100 of you?

Yes.

If we imagine the wage of the ordinary worker

to be 25,000 pounds, then

in 1979, the richest 1% earned..

50,000.

Show me the bar.

150,000 pounds.

Now, everyone, is that fair?

No.

Now if the 99% are still

earning 25,000 pounds

the richest 1% earn?

375,000.

Roxie's the 1% has gone up to

375,000 pounds, while yours

the 99%, has stayed the same.

Is that fair?

No!

Roxie, do you think it's fair?

No.

Even Roxie doesn't think it's fair.

Grays, as the name suggests, is a normal town.

You could say a normal, suburban Essex town

or a normal British town or a normal Northern European town.

Give us a chip?

Come on.

Cheers. Thanks.

Or even a normal town

in a secular, western democracy.

Thank you, man.

Alright, mate. Do you, uh, do you remember me?

I used to play with you down your road?

- Who is it, Spencer.. - Dean.

Dean! How the fuck are you?

- Your brother's Warren. - That's it.

Leigh, Pizzazz!

Oh, Pizzazz.

Pizzazz has become a church. They call that progress.

There used to be a bloody good disco.

Now what is it? A church. Oh, Christ.

I remember being in there as a little kid, reading books.

I remember being in there, like getting nicked.

I remember getting beaten up there

and then it becomes like a zoo.

- I'm writing a book. - Go on.

I'm writing a book called "Temple of Night."

Why don't you tell me about it

in the middle of the fucking road?

Well, I'm going to 'cause that's

how you promote a book. How are you doing, Russell?

- I'm alright, mate. - I'm a West Ham supporter.

- Yeah? - And, uh, well.

I'm... I'm writing a book called

"Temple of Night, Close to the Edge."

- And me cousin's... - What's it about?

It's about my life and me relation's book

Jimmy Tibbs is out at the moment.

- Oh, my God. - "Sparring With Life."

- Hello. - Hello

So we're gonna do, like, a bit of a readin'.

Grays was never one of the seven wonders of the world.

Grays was never an estuary Shangri-La.

I suppose, in truth, it was always a bit of a dump.

But coming back now

it's shocking how much sadder

this lesser depleted modern Grays is

with its charity and betting shops

its food banks and Wonga loans.

But what is most shocking

is that Grays is still a normal town, an average town.

This is happening everywhere.

The rich are getting richer. Everyone else is struggling.

Them's called knick-knacks, ain't it?

But they're the only knick-knacks I've got.

There's nothing wrong with having knick-knacks.

- No. - I like 'em all there.

Yeah, I'd wanna play with them though, if I was a bit younger.

If I was 34..

I think I'd muck around with them.

- Any others? - No.

- Just her, my one and only. - Like me?

Yeah.

Yeah. Hard is it?

It is hard sometimes.

What's your job then?

Um, I work in local government.

Can I ask how much you earn? Is that...

I'm on about 20,000 a year.

Don't think that's enough.

Well.. I mean, uh, is it?

No, no. No.

I have to rely on the child benefit.

- Mmm. - Tax credits, you know.

Y... you just do your best.

You just make sacrifices

you know, don't go out much.

I was doing drama originally, but I didn't like it.

There's no money in any of that. Knock that on the head.

What about university? You gonna go?

I'd like to, yeah, I'm... I'm not 100% sure

what I want to do yet, but I would like to go

but it's just that the cost side of things.

Mm.

I... I do... don't want to, like

not... not go to university.

I'd really like to go, but it's just that worrying

that if there is enough money and if there isn't

what am I meant to do?