'I, Daniel Blake' - I can't unsee it

I wanted to get this blog post written before the terrifying event that Trump becomes President tomorrow and the world as we know it comes to an end. I also wanted to write this blog post because never in my life have I seen a film that has made me so angry, outraged and ashamed at this country.

Last week, I went to the cinema on my own (I'm an independent woman who don't need no man.... or friends apparently) to watch Ken Loach's new film: I, Daniel Blake. I'd seen the trailer, and countless reviews on twitter, and as soon as I'd seen it had even been mentioned in the House of Commons and PMQs, I couldn't wait any longer.

I'll try and not give any spoilers about the film, because I want every single person that reads this blog post to go out and watch it. But essentially, Daniel Blake is a man in his 60s, who has suffered a bad heart attack and is deemed medically unfit for work by his doctor. The whole film follows his journey of applying for Employment and Support allowance, and battling his way through the suffocating red tape that prevents so many honest and less privileged people from getting the support they desperately need and deserve. Daniel Blake befriends a single mum and her 2 children when they move to Newcastle from London, having been evicted from their house in London after complaining about mould that hospitalised her youngest child. The film beautifully explores their unlikely friendship, whilst painting the harrowing reality of each party's struggle with the system.

You probably know me all as a fairly passionate person. Hell I wouldn't be blogging if I didn't get riled up about things. But to give you an idea of the impact that this film had on me: I was writing some notes in my notebook as the film played for this blog, and half way down, I stopped because this happened:

There were moments where my head physically hung in shame, my jaw was on the floor and my glasses steamed up I was crying with anger so much. It is completely heart-wrenching, sobering and devastating, and will leave you feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Yet, government ministers and people in positions of parliamentary power have branded the film as unrealistic and accuse it of exaggerating the plight of those claiming welfare. I can't tell you how much this makes my blood boil. For the elite, ignorance is bliss. They either know its going on and turn a blind eye, or they literally are completely oblivious - blinded by privilege. Ken Loach was quick to respond, saying that they had chosen to tell Daniel Blake's story because it was less severe than many of the stories they came across during research, worrying that anything more desperate might be deemed unbelievable.

And unfortunately the fact is, that a lot of us don't realise this is going on, or worse; don't care. We are so lucky to live the lives we do. Majority of you reading this probably go to the University of Bath. Look around you. You have it good. We are in such a bubble of wealth and advantage.

Bath is steeped in riches With excellent universities, a thriving economy and beautiful surroundings.

But you don't have to look very far to start noticing the fault lines in the Bath stone.

After just 1 month on placement, I can tell you that in the shadow of Bath's wealth and grandeur, are a considerable number of people who are victims of the system. Whilst we order GBK deliveroo from our homes, others depend on food banks to put meals on the table. Whilst we moan about having to fill out student finance, there are people being punished by the system designed to help them. There are families that might live on your very street who entirely rely on charities and organisations local to Bath for their food, resources and support.

And it's a completely vicious cycle. Often those with poor health, stressful home lives or other variables out of their control find themselves dependent on the state. As I, Daniel Blake so soberingly shows, the red tape battle that is fought when you depend on the state can lead to problems with benefits being received. With no income, health deteriorates further, stress increases, and so it becomes more and more difficult to function and fulfil requirements that the state places on you.

In a brilliant speech to Parliament, Mhairi Black MP highlights how society continues to blame the poor. People who claim benefits are viewed as lazy and lesser citizens, as architects of their own fate. Yet as Mhairi Black clearly states, that 0.8% of benefits are fraudulently claimed. The majority of claimants are good, honest people who need the swift and ongoing help to get back on their feet.

The system is terrible. The system needs to change. Government ministers need to get down off their high horses, recognise the problems and take responsibility for them. But the even more uncomfortable truth is that this issue is exacerbated by ordinary people standing by and doing nothing.

We're comfortable in our own lives, our own bubble, our own luxuries. For a society that is technically more connected than we've ever been, we continue to reach out less and less to our immediate communities. Changing the system might not happen immediately, but we can help buffer its devastating consequences. As students we have the astonishingly unique opportunity to fully make a difference in the city where our university is.

Through opportunities with V Team, RAG, or any other charity local to Bath, we could actually make a direct difference to these people's lives, and quite frankly, we have no excuse not to. Whether that be through initiatives such as Miranda Khamis' Food Drop (https://www.bathstudent.com/news/article/busu/Food-Drop-set-to-launch/) or projects like The Nest Project (http://thenestproject.co.uk/) we have the ability to reach out to a group of people who have been dealt an awful hand in life, and have been so unjustly targeted by the flawed system.

Because, echoing the words of Daniel Blake himself: these people aren't merely national insurance numbers, they're not statistics, they're not dogs. They are citizens. And they deserve to be treated as such.