Welfare untruths

11 Churches, 4 Nations, 1 Message: Truth about poverty please Mr Cameron

Posted on 7 June 2013 by Paul Morrison

Churches and charities from all four nations of the UK, have come together to write to the Prime Minister to ask that  government ministers cease to say untrue things about those in poverty.

UPDATED: A summary of the letter has also been published in the Daily Telegraph.

The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland, alongside the lead Church of England Bishop on welfare issues in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Bradford, the Church in Wales, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Quakers, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church and the two leading ecumenical Christian charities tackling poverty issues – Housing Justice and Church Action on Poverty – have come together to write this letter because of a common and simple belief: truth is important, and truth about those in poverty has been lacking.

The letter highlights three instances in April alone where government ministers made statements which were demonstrably untrue. The common thread between these statements was that, in support of the Government’s welfare reforms, they painted many of those who claim benefits in a negative light. The letter gives a detailed explanation of the untruths and highlights a tiny proportion of the damaging, stigmatising and misleading news coverage prompted by the statements.

This apparent pattern of misleading statements and occasional straightforward untruths cannot continue. Saying untrue things which unjustly present sick and disabled people as dishonest and lazy, cannot be acceptable if we are to live in a decent society. Many may agree with the policies being defended – but surely no-one can agree with backing them up with untruths?

It is core to Christian belief that we are all loved and valued creations of God – and all deserve to be treated with dignity. We have asked the Prime Minister to ensure that those who were misrepresented receive an apology and that the pattern of misleading statements ceases. We hope that can be the beginning of a new debate about poverty which is grounded in both reality and respect.

SIR – April saw some of the most controversial and wide-ranging changes to the benefits system in a generation. Policies affecting the lives of millions of the most vulnerable people in our society were introduced. In a letter to the Prime Minister, we have highlighted three demonstrably untrue claims made by politicians in support of these reforms.

These are, that 900,000 disability claimants stopped claiming sickness benefit “rather than” face a medical assessment; that 8,000 people had got into employment as a result of the total benefits cap policy; and that there was a rush of claims for Disability Living Allowance before new rules introduced a tough medical assessment.

All three of these statements have drawn on high-quality Government statistical data which has then been misused and misinterpreted. All serve to undermine the credibility of benefit claimants.

The signatories of this letter hold no common view on welfare reform. However, we do hold the view that these misrepresentations deny people the respect and dignity that they are due.

We are calling on the Prime Minister to ensure that these untruths are corrected, and that similar statements are no longer allowed to pollute the public debate.

The Revd Stephen Keyworth
The Baptist Union of Great Britain

The Right Revd Nick Baines
Bishop of Bradford

Niall Cooper
National Coordinator, Church Action on Poverty

Alison Gelder
Chief Executive of Housing Justice

The Revd R. Kenneth Lindsay
President of the Methodist Church in Ireland

The Revd Dr Mark Wakelin
President of the Methodist Conference

The Revd Robert Hopcroft
Chairman of the Moravian Church in Great Britain and Ireland

Paul Parker
Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain

The Revd Sally Foster-Fulton
Convener of the Church and Society Council, the Church of Scotland

The Very Revd Ian D Barcroft
Convener, Church in Society Committee, Scottish Episcopal Church

The Revd Roberta Rominger
General Secretary of the United Reformed Church

The Revd Carol Wardman
Bishops’ Adviser for Church and Society, the Church in Wales