Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass by Darren McGarvey – review

This passionate polemic on the causes of poverty by the Scottish rapper and social commentator known as Loki won this year’s Orwell prize. It is also a memoir of growing up in Pollok,Glasgow, where McGarvey was “well adjusted to the threat of violence”.

Throughout his life he has struggled with drug dependency as well as the emotional and psychological scars of his dysfunctional upbringing: “Poverty is a quicksand that consumes us despite our best efforts to escape its pull.”

Angry and eloquent in equal measure, he argues that poverty has become a political football. He describes himself as a “leftie”, but has little time for politicians or well-meaning and well-paid representatives of the “poverty industry”.

No fan of identity politics either, he argues that intersectionality undermines the creation of “a well-organised, educated and unified working class”. He believes poverty will not be solved until the gulf between the classes is bridged. Written with honesty and wisdom, this is a heartfelt plea for a fairer and more caring society.