THIRTY-EIGHT religious leaders signed a letter to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor urging them to “act now to secure the futures of millions of children”.
The letter, which was co-ordinated by the multidenominational Joint Public Issues Team, demands that Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves “take decisive action” and seek “ambitious and creative” ways to secure additional investment to tackle child poverty.
Signatories include the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams; the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martin Snow, who is the Church of England’s lead bishop for welfare; all seven bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church; the President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Richard Andrew; the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg; the director of Islamic Relief, Zia Salik; and Lord Singh of Wimbledon, a Sikh cross-bench peer.
Noting that the Government’s child-poverty strategy is due to be published in the autumn, the letter says: “It is hard to conceive of an effective Child Poverty Strategy that does not act on the restrictive benefit cap and end the two-child limit.”
Faith groups “have challenged the limit on moral grounds, rejecting the state’s abandonment of third and later children, and the poverty this inevitably causes”, it reads.
“Across our different faiths we share a commitment to human dignity. Poverty tears away at that dignity, robbing people of the opportunity to live a full life that reflects their inherent value. It is simply wrong that millions of children are born into families that struggle to cover even the essentials.”
The Archbishop of York visits the Junction Multibank in Middlesbrough, on Friday
The letter refers to a recent proposal from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to raise £3.2 billion in gambling levies to fund the abolition of the two-child limit and benefit cap, which is supported by the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown (News, 8 August). In a statement in support of the religious leaders’ letter, Mr Brown said: “Faith groups have a vital role to play in solving the endemic problem of child poverty. Their voices add to a growing chorus calling for the implementation of the government’s child poverty review.”
Bishop Snow said that, along with other faith leaders, he was “deeply troubled” by the scale of child poverty in Britain. He welcomed the Government’s first steps to address this crisis through breakfast clubs, the expansion of early-years provision, and the extension of the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
“In that same spirit, I encourage the Prime Minister and Chancellor to build on those measures with an ambitious strategy this autumn,” he said. “Ending the unfair two-child limit and benefit cap are necessary steps as we strive to fulfil our moral obligation to the next generation.”
On Friday, the Archbishop of York visited the Junction Multibank, in Middlesbrough, and met local leaders, and parents affected by child poverty.
During the visit, he commended the work of the Junction Multibank and the work of anti-poverty charities in the Tees Valley. “But the need for their services shames us as a society,” he said. “As children head back to school, I hope and pray that the Government will facilitate joined-up policy to address systemic failures that cause child poverty, so that all our children grow up with hope, dignity, and access to opportunities.”
Since opening last November, the Junction Multibank has distributed 1.5 million items to more that 224,000 individuals.