SENIOR church leaders in northern England, and officials of the
three largest Free Churches have warned the Government not to
characterise the poor as feckless scroungers.
In separate statements issued before the Chancellor made his
Autumn Statement on the economy on Wednesday, they expressed
concern at the effects on society of continuing welfare cuts.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, nine Anglican bishops
and 20 other Roman Catholic and Free Church leaders said: "We are
concerned that the ideology behind many cuts and reforms serves to
undermine fundamental principles of mutual care that are basic to
our vision of a good society.
"We are similarly disturbed that the political rhetoric that is
increasingly used of benefits claimants, 'scrounger' and 'feckless'
to name but two, stigmatises welfare in such a way that those who
are in genuine need become reluctant to make claims, to the
detriment of themselves, their families, and the communities in
which they live.
"We would also urge care in applying means-testing in an
aggressive way that further polarises the debate about welfare into
one in which the independent and self-sufficient think of
themselves as being in permanent support of the dependent and
'feckless'.
"For us, the common good relies on the recognition of the equal
worth of all persons, and an active aspiration for interdependence.
We therefore wish to challenge such polarisation."
The writers also urge the Government "to achieve a better
balance in the UK economy between the South and the North".
In a separate statement, officials of the Baptist Union, the
Methodist Church, and the United Reformed Church expressed growing
concern over government language that, they said, increasingly
appeared to blame the poor for poverty.
"We need to guard against justifying welfare cuts by portraying
those on benefits as being undeserving or worse," the policy
adviser for the Methodist Church, Paul Morrison, said. "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 head of faith and unity for the Baptist Union of Great
Britain, Stephen Keyworth, said that welfare claimants deserved to
be spoken of with respect. "It is unacceptable to remove money from
people already living on a knife edge, and justify that by using
misleading stories and statistics," he said. "The least people
deserve is an honest acknowledgement of the truth of their
lives."
The Children's Society says that 3.6 million children live in
poverty in the UK, most of them in low-income working households.
It says that cuts in welfare benefits will make them worse off, and
that the Universal Credit coming into effect next year will reduce
support for particularly vulnerable children, such as the
disabled.
A Treasury spokesperson said: "The Government's
deficit-reduction plan is essential to put the public finances back
on track and deliver sustainable growth. It has helped keep
interest rates low, supporting hard-pressed families and
businesses.
"But we are cutting the deficit in as fair a way as possible.
Welfare reforms have focused spending on those most in need, and
bringing fairness back to the system by supporting people into work
and making work pay."
Payday-loans protest. The Association of
Christian Financial Advisers has called on the Chancellor to act
against payday lenders to prevent borrowers being driven deeper
into debt. It wants high interest rates made illegal, and credit
checks made compulsory.
"These measures would help protect the vulnerable, and make it
extremely difficult for the current business model of high rates of
interest to survive," the Association's spokesman, Arwyn Bailey,
said. Lenders were "enticing the vulnerable to take out payday
loans at usurious interest rates, driving them deeper into
financial hardship. Right now, a tough new law is what is
needed."