They’ll be faced with the very real prospect of falling into arrears, and having to choose whether to eat or put the heating on to stay warm. If it goes ahead many will be forced to make impossible choices. I accept that this is a major cost to the nation as a whole but believe that those in most need must be protected by the nation.”Ĭhristians Against Poverty’s UK Chief Executive, Paula Stringer says, “This cut will lead to thousands more people falling into problem debt. “It will also coincide with significant increased costs for electricity and gas just when the weather begins to turn and is a concern which has been expressed widely by all organisations who work with the poorest, and those who monitor the impact of such policies on them. The Bishop of Selby, Rt Revd Dr John B Thomson, said, “I signed this open letter because this proposed cut comes at a time when the future of the pandemic remains uncertain and at the very point when the furlough scheme ends. “There is no doubt that recent months have placed additional burdens on the poorest in our communities and this feels like the least we can do to show practical compassion and care at this tremendously difficult time.” With the increase in food and energy prices together with the impact of the pandemic on household income I am extremely concerned about families and households already struggling to make ends meet. The Bishop of Doncaster, Right Revd Sophie Jelley, added, “I fully support the plea to retain Universal Credit at the current level at the present time.
“We believe that everyone should be able to fulfil the potential God has placed within them and that we should do all that is necessary to prevent people being held back by poverty.” I urge ministers to come to a church project and see the difference £20 a week makes for some families. “Every day we see in churches and foodbanks people with huge potential, bursting to contribute who cannot move forward because the struggle simply to make ends meet is all-consuming. In the letter to Boris Johnson, created in partnership with Church Action on Poverty and Christians Against Poverty, the church leaders say, “We urge the Government to choose to build a just and compassionate social security system that our whole society can have confidence in.”Ĭhurch at the Margins Officer and Former Vice President of the Methodist Church, Eunice Attwood, said, “Cutting £20 a week from families who are just keeping their heads above water cannot be right.
Over 1,100 church leaders have felt compelled to speak up because of the impact this cut will have on people in poverty, and have signed a letter to the Prime Minister. People in church leadership positions, with the support of two anti-poverty charities, are calling for the plans to cut Universal Credit by £20 a week from next month, which will impact millions of households, to be stopped.
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