LONDON (AFP) – Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling entered the election campaign Wednesday with a scathing attack on the main opposition Conservatives for their social policies.
Rowling, who wrote the first Harry Potter book while living as a single mother on benefits but is now a multimillionaire, suggested Tory leader David Cameron was "completely ignorant" about poor people's lives.
One of the Conservatives' manifesto pledges ahead of the May 6 election is a tax break for married couples. It amounts to just 150 pounds a year but Cameron said it was important for the message it sends.
"Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say 'it?s not the money, it?s the message'," Rowling, a major donor to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party, wrote in The Times newspaper.
She added: "When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money.
"If Mr. Cameron?s only practical advice to women living in poverty, the sole carers of their children, is 'get married, and we?ll give you 150 pounds', he reveals himself to be completely ignorant of their true situation."
Rowling has made a fortune out of the Harry Potter books and films and in 2008 donated one million pounds to the Labour party, which is currently locked in an increasingly close race with the Tories ahead of election day.
She is one of a number of celebrities who have entered the political fray since campaigning started.
Cameron last week launched his plans for a new community scheme alongside actor Michael Caine and also went jogging with former cricketer Ian Botham.
Courtesy of afp.com and news.yahoo.com
tags: Harry potter, J.K rowling