Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined more than 50 faith groups, charities and politicians to call on the government to take urgent action to bridge the cost of living gap faced by low income families. He said: “This crisis goes far beyond politics; this is a moral issue – our responsibilities to our neighbours and in particular to those who have the least and whose needs are the greatest.”
This follows a report that warned that some low-income families are up to £1,600 a year worse off as a result of the cost of living crisis following a triple blow to their earnings.
Mr Brown, himself an ex-chancellor, is calling for the Cobra emergency committee to sit in “permanent session” during the current crisis. He is also calling for parliament to be recalled as a matter of urgency unless Boris Johnson and both Tory leadership candidates can agree on an emergency budget in the days to come. He warned that some of the tax cuts proposed throughout the leadership race “will not benefit those who are really poor” and urged “targeted support for families on the lowest incomes” and “a permanent increase in Universal Credit”.
Mr Brown commissioned the report after warnings about the realities of rising costs from charities and churches in the UK. Written by poverty expert and Loughborough University Professor Donald Hirsch, it reveals a gap between the support the government is currently offering to households and the anticipated rise in living costs. “This is a crisis that Britain hasn’t seen in decades,” said Mr Brown. “The most urgent and immediate challenge for the incoming prime minister is to ensure that families with children and disabled people aren’t neglected to struggle through the challenges ahead.”
The report has been endorsed by more than 50 charities, faith groups and politicians, many of whom are providing front-line support for families hit by rising costs, including the Trussell Trust, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the Child Poverty Action Group. Signatories include Archbishop Leo William Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh; Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary of Churches Together in England; Elizabeth Palmer, CEO of St Vincent de Paul Society in England & Wales; and Paul Southgate, Chair of the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales. Also, Paul Bodenham of Caritas Nottingham, John Coleby of Caritas Westminster, Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Chair of the Justice and Peace Commission in Westminster Diocese and Ben Gilchrist of Caritas Shrewsbury.
Patrick O’Dowd, director of Caritas Salford, told The Tablet this week: “With further increases to energy bills when the price cap is lifted in October, it is essential that the UK Government takes action now to provide an adequate, better targeted package of support, particularly for those in communities in the North.” He felt this should include increasing benefits and reintroducing the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and implementing longer-term policies like reintroducing the Green Homes Grant Scheme which mitigates the cost of energy and supports carbon reduction. “Action must be taken immediately,” he warned.
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