In an open letter published in the Observer on Sunday, 18 bishops ask for amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill now going through Parliament. The letter says that as a result of the proposed cap on benefits, an estimated 210,000 children may be pushed into ‘severe poverty’ and another 80,000 made homeless. The bishops write: ‘Such an impact is profoundly unjust.’ The letter follows reports that millions of benefit claimants are likely to lose between £50 to £100 each next year if the historic link between the rate of inflation and welfare payments is broken. This hits the youngest in families on the breadline the hardest. As the bishops write, they ‘have no voice’. In a time of austerity, the Observer believes it is a valid exercise to prioritise which aspects of universalism to retain but it is essential that the principle itself continues to dominate the shape of our welfare state.
Pray: that the government would consider the needs of the young plus the elderly and not emphasise one over the other. (Ph.4:19)