04 December 2012
Reality not myths, Mr Osborne
• Government warned against stigmatising people in
poverty
• Austerity has made the poor poorer
• Quantitative easing has made the wealthy richer
Three of Britain's largest Churches have urged Chancellor George
Osborne to show respect for the poorest in his Autumn Statement
tomorrow.
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, Methodist Church and United
Reformed Church have expressed growing concern over the negative
portrayal of the poorest by the Government. The Chancellor
inflated benefit fraud figures in the 2010 Comprehensive
Spending Review, and the Churches are concerned about the use of
language which increasingly appears to blame the poor for
poverty.
"We need to guard against justifying welfare cuts by portraying
those on benefits as being undeserving or worse," said Paul
Morrison, Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church. "In the run up
to this statement Mr Osborne has spoken of families 'with their
curtains closed sleeping off a life on benefits,' implying welfare
cuts primarily target an undeserving poor. This is a far cry from
reality."
The majority of welfare payments support elderly people. Of the
money spent on working age people, those receiving most support are
in work and need top-up benefits, followed by the sick and
disabled. Despite the fact that unemployed people face a harsh
labour market, Job Seeker's Allowance is less than 3% of the
welfare budget - much less than the £10 billion in cuts being
sought. This is the reality the Churches are urging the Chancellor
to face up to.
"Welfare claimants deserve to be spoken of with respect," added
Stephen Keyworth, Head of Faith and Unity for the Baptist Union of
Great Britain. "It is unacceptable to remove money from people
already living on a knife edge and justify that by using misleading
stories and statistics. The least people deserve is an honest
acknowledgement of the truth of their lives. As Christians we
believe that everyone is of equal worth."
The Churches argue that the Government's policy of austerity has
hit the incomes of the poorest hardest while the other major
economic policy, quantitative easing, has increased the wealth of
the richest in society.
"There is clear evidence that the Government's twin polices of
austerity and quantitative easing have made the poor poorer and the
rich richer[1]," said Marie Trubic, the United Reformed Church's
Spokesperson on Public Issues. "Poorer families with children have
been the biggest losers by far. The Chancellor needs to publicly
acknowledge the real hardship that ordinary people are facing
because of Government decisions."
Notes:
1.
Distributional Analysis Bank of England paper (Para 16 and
Chart 4)
2. More welfare data can be found in this research from the
Nuffield Foundation:
Impact of modelled tax and benefit reforms: 2011-2014.