The New Poor
Naturally, one doesn't blame the electricity workers for wanting more money in principle. On the other hand, they are hardly impoverished. But i imagine many readers of the Sunday Times were startled by the revelation of his household affairs by a self-styled 'member of the new-poor' . class this week. The advice he and his wife ° offered to others seeking to maintain solvency on similar resources had a positively nineteenth- century ring: use a paraffin lamp rather than electricity; do without heat at home, except for a pressure-heater for really severe weather; spend the evenings in bed to keep warm cheaply; buy a newspaper only at the weekend; and so on. At lest, this frugal couple can laugh at power cuts.
The most striking thing about the item was the nature of its author. He is not an unemployed an or a social misfit. He is an established civil servant.
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