Reacting to the King’s Speech, Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “People in Scotland and across the UK believe in justice and compassion. They don’t want to live in a country where a fifth of our households live in poverty, including 2.6 million children. They can see how food insecurity, deprivation, low pay, insecure work, and lack of investment in our public services are damaging their communities.
“The new Government’s first Kings Speech was an opportunity for it to set out a new path on poverty. After years of policies that have failed to stem the rising tide of poverty across the UK, we expected to hear more on the early actions the new Government would take to begin to turn that rising tide. Many of the Bills announced today are welcomed – strengthening workers’ rights, in particular – but poverty was missing from the speech today.
“That absence will mean millions across the UK will still face the same policies and rules that have kept them in poverty under the last government – the five week wait for benefits, the benefit cap, the two-child limit. We have known for years about the deeply damaging impact that these policies have, now is the time to change them.
“People want a strong, secure, and stable society that gives people a foundation to build lives beyond poverty. It is what they expect from the new Labour Government. It’s what the Poverty Alliance expects too, and we will continue to make the case for the necessary action to be taken as soon as possible.”
Enter your email address to receive regular e-updates about our work. If at any time you want to stop receiving these, simply contact us. We’ll keep your details safe and won’t share them with any other organisations for their marketing purposes. For full details see our Privacy Policy.