Part 187. Another damning indictment.

In Part 173 reference is made to the report of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation entitled Destitution in the UK 2023. The report paints a shocking picture of the failure of the political process to alleviate and tackle the causes of extreme poverty.

Last week the Social Justice Commission of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) published its report Two Nations: the State of Poverty in the UK. It is further evidence of the failure of politicians to tackle poverty issues in any sustained meaningful way. The report tells of a widening gulf between main stream society and a depressed and poverty-stricken underclass. Shades of JK Galbraith. The gap is wider than it has been since Victorian times and risks becoming a chasm. The Chief Executive of CSJ states a strategy is needed to go after the root causes of poverty: education, work, debt, addiction and family. The report adds crime, poor housing and health to the list.

The Commission's membership includes Lord King. Former Governor of the  Bank of England.

Tim Farron. Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Andy Burnham. Former Labour minister and currently Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Miriam Cates. Conservative MP for Penistone & Stocksbridge.

(Cates is an evangelical Christian. She has been touting Tory MPs to oppose any proposals to ban conversion therapy and is no friend of the trans community. A former chief at CSJ is married to a minister of a church supporting conversion therapy.)

Sadly, the latest report is likely to gather dust as have many other reports on the causes of poverty. There will be wringing of hands and expressions of concern but doubtless failure to tackle the systemic issues. As Galbraith noted society has the means to deal with the issues, it is unwilling to pay the cost. Instead there will be minor adjustments to alleviate the symptoms but nothing meaningful to tackle the causes.

From a Christian perspective we are told by Jesus to love our neighbour. Bishop Desmond Tutu said we should stop pulling people out of the river: instead we should go up river, find out why they are falling in and put a stop to it. The churches are very good at pulling people out of the river but woefully inadequate at demanding systemic change to stop them falling in. Christians individually and collectively should campaign vigorously in the political arena for systemic change to overcome poverty. Somehow I do not believe the denominations will engage politicians with the determination, passion, perseverance and zeal that is required to force change. But change is needed, urgently.