Faith leaders' letter on child poverty

Following the launch of Action for Children’s report, Paying the Price of Child Poverty (which outlines the impact poverty is having on 4.3 million children across the UK and suggests ways this might be tackled in the government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy), Lynn Green has joined other senior faith leaders across the UK writing to Liz Kendall MP and Bridget Phillipson MP (co-chairs of the Child Poverty Taskforce) asking for a new bold and ambitious policies.

Dear Bridget Philipson, Secretary of State for Education, and Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

We write to you as faith leaders from communities across the UK, to encourage you to be bold and ambitious in your upcoming Child Poverty Strategy. 

We welcome the government’s acknowledgement in its manifesto that the UK’s increasing levels of child poverty and reliance on emergency food are a “moral scar” on our nation. Without action this scar will deepen, with an additional 400,000 children set to be pulled into poverty over the next decade. 

This cannot be acceptable. As we look around the communities we serve, it is clear that this is not a time for half measures. We have seen the challenges faced by our neighbours become harder and harder. We’ve also seen communities step up time and again to provide support through debt centres, food banks, food pantries and warm hubs, as well as by simply providing welcoming spaces for those who need them. Millions are fed and supported because communities have risen to the challenge of ever-increasing poverty and hardship. 

In setting out your Child Poverty Strategy, we ask you to demonstrate that you match the commitment and ambition of our communities and strive to ensure that no child in the UK is held back by poverty. This will require substantial investment and intentional focus from government. Research released this week by Action for Children sets out a roadmap of measures that could lift 1.2 million children out of poverty by the end of this parliament. These include action to reform and invest in a more effective social security system, and steps to boost social housing and improve opportunities for income from employment.

We all want this strategy to succeed, so it is important that these plans are developed in partnership with children and families who are experiencing poverty. This not only honours the wisdom and insight such lived experiences bring but will also help to ensure that policies are workable in the real-life contexts of our communities.

We recognise that there are many pressures on public spending, but we believe that there is an urgent moral imperative to prioritise policies that ensure that every child, whatever their background, has the best possible chance to thrive. 

While we come from different faith traditions, we share a belief that working to end poverty should be a hallmark of any decent, compassionate society. We also believe that transformational change is possible. We are hopeful that the Child Poverty Strategy could be a turning point for the communities we serve, and we are ready to work in partnership with people of goodwill across society to ensure that every child has the start in life they deserve. 

We anticipate your strategy and pray that it will rise to the challenges we face. 

Yours sincerely
 

Rt Rev John Arnold, Bishop of Salford, Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford 

Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen, Co-chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis and Cantors in the UK 

Anil Bhanot, Managing Trustee, Hindu Council UK 

Dr Desmond Biddulph CBE, President of The Buddhist Society 

Nicola Brady, General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland 

Adwoa Burnley, Clerk, Quakers in Britain 

Revd Helen Cameron, President of the Methodist Conference, The Methodist Church in Britain 

Rabiha Hannan, Trustee, New Horizons in British Islam 

Tufail Hussain, Director, Islamic Relief UK 

B”H, Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE, Chairman Muslim-Jewish Forum, Rabbi Emeritus Sharei Mazal Synagogue 

Carolyn Godfrey, Vice President of the Methodist Conference, The Methodist Church in Britain 

Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain 

Mrs Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin -the Jewish voice for human rights 

Bea Hulme, Youth President of the Methodist Church, The Methodist Church in Britain 

Emma Jackson, Convener, Public Life and Social Justice Programme Group, The Church of Scotland 

Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main, Territorial Leaders, The Salvation Army UK and Ireland 

Revd Tim Meadows, General Assembly Moderator, The United Reformed Church 

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Inter Faith Ambassador, The Muslim Council of Britain 

Farooq Murad, CEO, The Islamic Foundation 

Ravinder Kaur Nijjar, Chair, Sikhs in Scotland Interreligious Dialogue Committee, Sikhs in Scotland 

Trupti Patel, President of the Hindu Forum of Britain and Trustee of the HFB Charity, Hindu Forum of Britain 

Imam Dr Sayed Razawi, Director General, Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society (SABS) 

Bishop Paul Rochester, General Secretary, Free Churches Group 

Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary, Churches Together in England 

Indarjit Lord Singh of Wimbledon, Director, Network of Sikh Organisations UK 

Elizabeth Slade, Chief Officer, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches 

The Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Lord Bishop of Leicester, Church of England 

Most Revd Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church 

Dr Srihari Vallabhajousula, Scottish Hindu Religious leader, The Hindu Temple of Scotland 

Rabbi Kath Vardi, Rabbi, North West Surrey Synagogue 

Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Llandaff, Church in Wales 

Maya Withall, URC Youth Assembly Moderator, The United Reformed Church 

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg OBE, Senior Rabbi, Masorti Judaism 

Rabbi Igor Zinkov, Co-chair of the Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors, The Liberal Jewish Synagogue


23 March 2025