Minister defends 'miserable' jibe

Mr Harris wondered why Britons weren't happier with their lot

A UK Government minister has been criticised for asking why Britons are "so bloody miserable" despite the current economic problems.

The comments by Glasgow South MP Tom Harris first appeared in his blog on his website.

Mr Harris, a transport minister, told BBC Radio he was comparing this generation with previous ones, who were not so healthy or wealthy.

However, he apologised if how he made his comments had caused offence.

In his blog post titled Heaven knows we're miserable now, Mr Harris said: "There are more two-car homes in Britain today than there are homes without a car at all.

If you read the full article I hope you'll understand that what I'm trying to do is actually make a serious point Tom Harris MP Read Tom Harris's blog comments

"We live longer, eat healthier (if we choose), have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago (satellite TV, DVD, computer games), the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down.

"So why is everyone so bloody miserable?"

Speaking to Radio 5 Live, the MP defended his posting.

He said: "If you read the full article I hope you'll understand that what I'm trying to do is actually make a serious point.

"Even if I accept that that phrase 'why is everyone so bloody miserable' - I wrote that in a humorous vein - I understand that if people want to take that as offensive, I apologise, that maybe it should have been phrased differently."

He added: "I'm not belittling the genuine problems people are facing. I do think there is a more deep-seated cultural, even possibly spiritual problem that we have in this country where, is it about consumerism, is it about the instant gratification society, are we finding that buying stuff just doesn't make us as happy as we thought?"

But the comments were denounced by shadow treasury chief secretary Philip Hammond, who accused him of living on a "different planet" from ordinary hard-working families.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version