Britain Needs Thomas Cromwell’s Welfare State, Says Hilary Mantel

In 1536, as Henry VIII’s chancellor, Cromwell tried to get through Parliament a Poor Law providing money to those unable to work. Says Mantel, “We have reached a period where we are going back to the Middle Ages; where poverty is once again being viewed as a moral failing or a weakness, and relief by the state is a privilege and not a right.” (She also thinks Cromwell could sort out the banking system.)