Anti-poverty campaigner who committed suicide ‘failed on every level’
Daughter of anti-poverty campaigner, who took her own life, says her mother ‘failed on every level’ after struggling with the housing system and falsely told she owed money
An anti-poverty activist who took his own life had “failed on every level,” her daughter claims.
Karen McBride, 46, from Manchester, tragically took her own life in 2022 after years of struggling with benefits and housing systems, and her daughter Codie told Good Morning Britain today that multiple agency failures contributed to the death from her mother.
Speaking to Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard, Codie revealed that the financial “pressure” resulting from administrative errors in the housing system made her mother’s life difficult.
She said, “It’s the pressure put on you by multiple systems. She had just failed on every level.
“When she moved into the house, she was told she was already behind on rent because of a rent allowance error and she was trying to address that.
She continued, “Then there was another error saying she owed council tax. At the same time, she lives in this house which is completely uninhabitable and is again threatened with homelessness with these threatening letters she receives from Jigsaw.
“All this pressure was on her and I do believe if they hadn’t put so much pressure on her she would be alive today.”
Housing advocate Kwajo Tweneboa, who co-starred on the show with Codie, said Karen was “abandoned and abandoned by the same agencies that are supposed to look after her.”
He said, “I would go so far as to say that she was even treated like a criminal by them because she was told you owed money, but you actually don’t, and I see this all the time.
“The impact it has on people’s mental health, even if they’ve just moved into a house that’s full of decay and being told you owe money if you don’t.”
“I get messages all the time from residents who are in similar situations and are really struggling, saying they’re going to take their own lives.”
For the first time since giving a statement at the inquest into Karen’s death earlier this month, Codie said: “I just want my mom to be remembered for the way she lived.
Codie McBride appeared on Good Morning Britain and claimed that multiple agency failings contributed to her mother’s death
Karen McBride, 46, anti-poverty campaigner, tragically took her own life in 2022 after years of struggling with benefits and housing systems
“She lived to fight for justice for other people. She was a huge fighter against poverty. She was great. Everyone who met her said she lit up a room. She had the most amazing laugh and smile and that’s how I want her to be remembered.”
Mother-of-four Karen took her own life last August after years of struggling to improve conditions at her home in Tameside, Greater Manchester, which led to escalating mental health problems.
But for many years she was also a great advocate for a better standard of living for people living in poverty or living on the poverty line.
Five weeks before her death, Codie said her mother desperately called the council in a last-ditch effort to get help at her home — telling them she was having “dark thoughts.”
Kate read out a statement from Jigsaw indicating that the coroner had not placed the blame on any one specific organization – while admitting the complicated nature of the benefits system.
Added Codie: “This happens over and over again. What needs to change is that there is an attitude towards a certain class of people in this country, people who live in town halls and live off the bread line.
Housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa, who joined Codie on the show, said Karen was “abandoned and abandoned by the same agencies that are supposed to look after her”
For years, Karen has also been a strong advocate for better living standards for people living in poverty or living on the poverty line
“What happens is there is a kind of demonization towards those people and when that happens you dehumanize people and it makes up for these systems failing them and being ignored in their struggles and their living conditions. And people have just become apathetic to it.”
Elsewhere on the show, Health Secretary Neil O’Brien admitted that the conditions Karen lived in were “unacceptable.”
He said, “We cannot let people live in misery. We are determined to take action on this and that is why we are working on legislation.’
He also referred to mental health funding to help support people – despite pleas from Kwajo to do more and faster.