Dickens, ruthless champion of the poor...

Britain is in real celebration mode this week. Two days ago we saluted the 60th year of the Queen's reign as monarch, Head of the Commonwealth and the Church of England. And yesterday Britain - and the world - celebrated the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birthday.  And I do mean the world.

As I write this blog I am listening to academics from Africa and the USA on his influence on literature. He is after all, the man who made Christmas famous.

 

But whatever you make of the writer you simply cannot mistake Dickens, the commentator and ruthless champion of the poor. He was undeniably a literary campaigner for the poor and marginalised in a Britain at the height of its Empire status. His legacy has left us with the iconic comparison between the stingy image of Scrooge and the resilient innocence of Oliver Twist.

But as we remember Dickens and his writing, I am left wondering who he would call Scrooge today!

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