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10.30 – 11.00, Prayer Group and Bible Study meet on alternate weeks. Followed by coffee. All Welcome.
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BN16 2PYRecent Posts
- COP29 – Pedaling to conclusion 20/11/2024 November 20, 2024 4:12 pm
200 cyclists have arrived at Baku, Azerbaijan, having cycled almost 4,000 miles from Paris. We need their passion to be matched in the committee rooms where delegations are hammering out compromises to rescue COP29. The Azerbaijan COP has been described as the ‘climate finance summit’ but progress so far is not good. $1.3 trillion per year of climate finance is the figure being talked about in Baku. $1.3 trillion is the external finance each year by 2035 that will be necessary for developing countries and emerging economies (middle income countries) to achieve net zero pathways. (In case you are wondering, the figure of $1 trillion discussed previously in this blog is the external finance needed by 2030 rather than 2035.) There are two big questions being hammered out in Baku. The first is whether this will all come from developed nations or whether a deal can be struck with China to obtain a voluntary commitment from them for grant assistance. The second, how much will be in the form of grants (rather than loans, export credits or other forms of finance). At the moment the negotiations have reached an impasse. This is not unusual at this stage of a COP, but there is a risk of spectacular and damaging failure. It was only yesterday that governments were able to properly focus on the hard negotiations over top line issues. Some top level government ministers are flying in with just two and half days to go before COP29 will agree a final package. The ministers must not fail us. With 200 activists cycling thousands of miles to Baku, lets pray that our negotiators go the extra mile to deliver the climate finance needed to set the world on a path to net-zero. Source
- COP29 – which narrative will prevail? November 14, 2024 5:08 pm
This is the first of a regular update from COP29. The last two days have given us high-profile media displays as world leaders gathered to set the tone for the next two weeks. Here are two quick observations on the opening session. The UK provided a welcome highlight at the start of COP29 While too many leaders have stayed away this time, the UK has chosen to show its cards ahead of the start of tricky negotiations between states. Kier Starmer arrived in Baku to announce a UK pledge of an 81% cut in emissions by 2035.1 This is a positive note at such an early stage of proceedings. It is a sufficiently significant commitment to cause others to sit up and take note. In my article last week, I urged that the UK government demonstrate strong political leadership and pledge at least an 81% cut in emissions. So far, so good. Now the UK must also lead on negotiations on a New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance, and seek to ensure that oil and gas companies contribute to compensation for loss and damage to communities affected by climate impacts.2 The President of Azerbaijan struck a discordant note The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, reacted to Azerbaijan being described as a ‘petro-state’. He hit out at the hypocrisy of the ‘fake news’ media of the nation that, in recent years, has become the largest oil and gas producer in the world; the United States. He also described oil, gas, sun and wind as ‘gifts from God’ insisting that the market needs them all. In doing so makes light of the scientific evidence concerning the urgent situation that we face, and he closes his ears to civil society voices across developing, newly industrialised and developed countries alike. President Aliyev’s message will have set the tone for some countries that will likely seek to hide behind anticipated US intransigence under a new President. This discordant note risks undermining the whole tenor of the opening speech of Mukhtar Babayev, the President of COP29, who stated that “we are on a road to ruin” and therefore the people of every continent “are waiting for us to show leadership and they cannot afford the cost of delay”. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, gets my award for ‘fossil of the day’. Today, COP gets down to work as delegations meet in numerous technical committees. Which narrative will prevail? Will President Ilham Aliyev’s praise of the markets, win through, or COP President, Mukhtar Babayev’s warning that COP29 is a test of the state of multilateralism in our world today? Sign up to our social media platforms (below) to get updates as COP29 progresses. And finally … The UK is a part of the global economy in which we each play a small part. While our government must take measures at home, everything that you and I buy has a carbon footprint, including food and goods produced overseas. That is why COP29 matters to each of us, as well of course, to those living in parts of the world that are already severely impacted by climate change. Check out our Social Media pages for great short videos (reels) that remind us why COP29 matters. Instagram, Facebook This is in line with the advice of the UK independent Committee on Climate Change. ↩︎The UK does not yet have adequate plans to bring about transition to reduce emissions by 81% of 1990 levels. ↩︎Source
- Church Leaders’ Statement before COP29 November 8, 2024 6:16 pm
Our Churches are committed to caring for creation and to tackling climate change. We lament the increasing frequency and severity of devastating hurricanes, flooding and droughts, and the impact they are having on people. Record temperatures and low rainfall have impaired food security, livelihoods, and energy production in many regions of the world. In July 2024, global temperatures reached unprecedented levels.[1] COP29 is an opportunity for governments to coordinate action to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. They must make pledges with purpose and integrity to avert climate-related suffering for this and future generations. Developing nations will need resources for adaptation and to gain equitable access to the technology for low-carbon development. This will require new sources of finance. We support the call for debt relief for low-income countries being made by Christian Aid and other agencies.[2] We join with faith communities across the world in calling for substantial additional funding for the Loss and Damage fund. We support the principle that polluters should pay for loss and damage. We want to see progress at Baku on new taxes and other sources of revenue to resource global action. In all this, UK leadership is vital. In 2021, COP26 in Glasgow was a significant moment even though the summit failed to gain consensus in some important respects. We urge our government to show leadership again through a renewed commitment to the framework established in Paris in 2015 on reducing emissions. As church communities in the UK and across the globe we are committed to prayerful action. We need COP29 to deliver concrete actions to support the pledges that have been made already and to secure new commitments for the good of all people and the planet. Revd Philip Brooks Deputy General Secretary (Mission), United Reformed Church Revd Helen Cameron President of the Conference of the Methodist Church Carolyn Godfrey Vice-President of the Conference of the Methodist Church Revd Lynn Green General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain [1] https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/global-drought-threatens-food-supplies-and-energy-production-2024-10-02_en [2] UK charities call on government to tackle climate breakdown and debt crises – Christian Aid | Mediacentre Source
- What must we see at COP29, Baku, Azerbaijan? November 6, 2024 2:44 pm
We are days away from one of the most important events of the international calendar – the COP Climate Summit. Countries can take actions independently but it is only by setting goals and implementing actions together and agreeing to be accountable for those actions, that we can hope to drive down carbon emissions across the globe. An updated scientific report from the United Nations tells us that cuts in carbon emissions of 42% by 2030 and 57% by 2035 are needed to get on track for staying below 1.5°C of global warming. The longer we delay, the tougher the challenge. Therefore our expectations from this month’s COP29 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, are for plans not promises. Specifically we want the following:- To address the greatest challenge of our generation we need an unprecedented level of investment. Developing countries must be able to quadruple current spending on transition in order to reach targets by 2030. This requires external finance and hence the proposed New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance must have ambition behind it. It must raise $trillions not $billions. It must come on track soon and therefore we need COP29 to resolve disagreements over what forms this funding should take and who pays. We need a lot more funding to the Loss and Damage Fund to help communities recover from climate disasters such as the recent Helene and Milton hurricanes. Substantial pledges by states would demonstrate confidence in this new fund. Loss and damage must also get funding from new sources including from the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance. Nations must make pledges on carbon targets for 2035 from February 2025 onwards (in advance of COP30 in Brazil next year). The UK says that it will make its pledge early at this COP summit. It must be a pledge of at least an 81% reduction in CO2 emissions as advised by the Committee on Climate Change. But crucially we will also be looking for actions from the UK government over the next year to demonstrate that it will reverse the slow progress on the current 2030 pledge. Our government must lead at home and at COP29. Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is a veteran of the COP summit process and could be an effective mediator when the going gets tough. Nations must agree the phase out of oil and gas. The UK’s influence in this and other important areas will be keenly watched. We will be reporting on progress at COP29 over the two weeks of negotiations. JPIT will bring you the stories and policy demands coming out of nations that are at the frontline of climate disaster. We pray for good news for the planet from COP29. Once the summit has concluded we will be among Christian communities across the globe who demand that their governments to put words into action. Source
- Looking at the Government Budget October 31, 2024 4:18 pm
Reflecting on the Budget The Let’s End Poverty campaign, which many churches are supporting, had called for a Budget that prioritised the poorest. This was not it. Everyone in the UK, including the least well off, will benefit from the increased spending on public services, which will certainly make a big difference to many people experiencing poverty. However, despite announcing over £70Bn a year greater in spending, it was difficult to find money targeted directly at improving the lives of the poorest in the UK, nor was progress made in restoring the international aid budget to its target of 0.7%. Lived experience of poverty In the run up to the Budget we talked with people experiencing poverty to get their views on what a good Budget would look like. It is no surprise that there were the range of concerns about climate change, the economy, defence, and immigration that can be found in any group of UK citizens, but when it came to issues directly impacting on poverty there were three themes. There was a call for people needing benefits to be treated with respect. People wanted an end to the rhetoric that treats the poorest as lazy, or not ‘properly’ disabled or simply cheats. While the Budget contained a familiar crack-down on benefit fraud, there was a welcome acknowledgement from the Chancellor that the rise in fraud is driven by organised crime exploiting the weaknesses in the Universal Credit system. Group members recognised that we are in difficult times, but wished to see some money directed at alleviating poverty, be that an end to the two-child rule, increases in benefits, or an extension to free school meals. These would have indicated that poverty is on the new government’s agenda and provide hope for the longer term. A reduction in monthly debt repayments that can be taken from Universal Credit payments and additional investment in breakfast clubs represent small very low-cost steps forward. The most specific concern was the change to how disability is assessed which was planned by the previous government. These changes remain in the plans, and are expected to cut £2Bn from disability benefits starting next year. This means that over the next 3 years an estimated 400,000 disabled people will have their benefits cut by around £5,000 a year. It is important to recognise this group has a high incidence of poverty, are three times more likely to face hunger than the general population, and make up 7 in 10 of visitors to foodbanks. Acknowledging reality The £70Bn of additional spending announced in the Budget did not go on alleviating poverty. It was largely about addressing known problems in the public finances and especially public services. In 2023 the independent Institute for Government rated every major public service bar schools as performing worse than 12 years previously, with insufficient funding for improvement. The largest service, the NHS, was struggling and both the criminal justice system and local government where widely acknowledged to be in crisis. The March 2024 Budget partially protected the NHS, but planned deep cuts in almost every department from 2026 onwards – though did not set out how those cuts would be achieved. This prompted the Chair of the Office for Budgetary Responsibility to describe the plans as “worse than fiction” on the grounds that at least “someone has bothered to write fiction”. There is a row about what was known about before the election, but during the election campaign it was always clear that the next government would have to cut, borrow, tax or a combination of all three. Sadly, no major party would engage with the issue and instead, they preferred carefully worded promises about freezing or cutting (some) taxes. If politicians want to understand why public trust in them is at an all-time low, all parties may want to reflect on why they made those choices. After this Budget the UK is a higher tax economy (38% GDP in tax, up around 1% in this Budget and around 3% since the pandemic), but still has significantly lower tax levels than our EU neighbours. The spending is front loaded, which means that while there are large rises this year and next, after that most departments will not see real terms increases in their budgets. The hope is that this slug of money will stabilise our public services and create a platform for improvement. It is by no means certain to work, and the business that the new taxes mainly fall on may struggle, but at least there is now a belated engagement with reality. The purpose of change The Budget represents a major long-term change in our economy. It is worth reflecting on more than the predictions of how much money we will have and how fast economic growth will increase it, which the Office for Budgetary Responsibility and Treasury documents necessarily focus on. The economy must have a purpose beyond growth. From a Christian perspective it might be judged against how it enables people to flourish, to fulfil the potential that God has put within them. In the context of our society, well-functioning schools, hospitals, and even courts and prisons are part of that, and this Budget prioritises these. It must also offer sufficient support to enable the least well off to thrive and contribute to society. The most important number not mentioned in the Budget documents is 14.4 million – which is the number of people experiencing poverty in the UK. Despite spending £70Bn more per year, the Budget is unlikely to move that number. For Further Analysis on the Government Budget, check out the latest episode on the 10 minutes on podcast here: Source
- The Future of Arms: Blockbuster films or the new reality of war? October 28, 2024 9:00 am
When I was growing up, my Dad believed that it was his duty as our father to ensure that my brother and I received a robust and culturally rich education. That is to say, he made sure that we were brought up watching the Star Wars films. This meant that Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Jaja Binks were some of my childhood heroes. My brother and I could be found in our back garden engaged in fierce, intergalactic combat, sparring with toy lightsabers. For many of us, the words ‘star wars’ mean nostalgic films, centred around loveable characters on feel good adventures. Films in which, against all the odds, our heroes reliably succeed in restoring the balance of good versus evil in the universe. Today however, ‘star wars’ or ‘drone wars’ are not just the stuff of movies, but are the new frontier of warfare as a result of technological advancement and rising conflict between superpowers. While in the UK we live in relative peace, the state of conflict globally is high. You can’t open a newspaper or any form of social media without seeing heart-breaking news of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. While these are the conflicts that we are most aware of, the tragic reality is that these aren’t the only wars happening currently. Indeed, according to analysis by the NGO ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data) in July 2024 one in seven people in the world have been exposed to conflict in 2024, and 50 countries are facing extreme, high or turbulent levels of conflict[i]. This marks an increase in the level of conflict globally. It’s not just that people around the world are facing more political and climate instability in addition to more armed conflict; we are seeing heightened tensions between the global superpowers of the US, Russia and China. This climate of fear and tension is driving countries around the world to increase military spending and arms production, and consensus around arms control and international law is being lost. In 2023 global military spending leapt up by 6.9% to $2443 billion[ii], at the same time as international development aid consistently failed to meet the increasing humanitarian need. From a humanitarian perspective there is an overwhelming interest in working to end conflict, in redirecting spending on war to humanitarian issues, and rebuilding global political will around arms control and international law. However, there is very little desire from key international players to do this, which is particularly concerning as technology is pushing war into uncharted territories. War in space, conflict played out on the web and the use of killer robots are not the stuff of science-fiction any more. The technology already exists and in some cases is already being used in conflicts around the world. International law is lagging behind these advancements. This means that, as people who care about working for global peace, tackling climate change, and reducing global poverty, we need to confront these new ethical questions, and challenges. With countries stocking up on weapons, we need people like you and me to speak up on these issues. Throughout history the church has consistently played an important role in advocating for peace, in speaking up for the sanctity of life, in promoting arms control, shaping human rights and international law. We believe that Christians and the church have a role to play again. We must be a part of the dialogue around these new and complex ethical questions, to look for peaceful solutions, and to work with our politicians to ensure that the UK works for a future where technology is used for the good of humanity. This is why JPIT is launching the Future of Arms project. The project comprises a series of educational resources: briefings, blogs, podcasts, webinars and videos. You can learn about these important issues and find out how you and your church can be part of working towards a more peaceful future, where technology is used not to take life, but to improve and even save it. To borrow some of the wisdom from Yoda, “to be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night.” In a world where there are immense challenges, it is easy to feel powerless and to give into fear, but let’s choose to be light, to work together to be lights in the darkness. Join us as we seek to use our influence and our voices to create a more peaceful future. Find more at jpit.uk/futureofarms [i] https://acleddata.com/conflict-index/index-july-2024/ [ii]https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2024/global-military-spending-surges-amid-war-rising-tensions-and-insecurity This blog was written by a former JPIT intern Sienna Sexton Source
- Autonomous weapons October 28, 2024 9:00 am
Autonomous weapons might seem like the far-off stuff of sci-fi and dystopian pop culture, but autonomous weapons in various shapes and sizes, are being used and developed across the world. This raises serious issues and concerns over ethics, responsibility and the law, which emphasise the need for greater restrictions and guidance over the use and development of these weapons. What is an autonomous weapon? An autonomous weapon is a type of weapon that can search for, identify, track, and attack a target without human intervention. These weapons require a human to activate them and input a target, but the weapon uses artificial intelligence alone to find and attack the target. This happens by sensors and software searching for the target. If the weapon loses its communication link, the operator will not know exactly where, when or who/what it will attack. Autonomous weapons are sometimes called ‘killer robots’. While some autonomous weapons have existed for years, they have been limited in terms of length of operation, geographical limits and certain environments. This is changing as technological advances have enabled these weapons to be developed further and new weapons with advanced capabilities to be created. Examples of autonomous weapons include drones equipped with AI, stationary autonomous guns as well as unmanned vehicles capable of carrying weapons. Where are autonomous weapons currently used? Although it is hard to know, and technological developments are being kept quiet, it is widely believed that autonomous weapons are already being used. Foreign Policy Magazine reported back in May 2022 that Israel, Russia, South Korea and Turkey had already used autonomous weapons.1 Countries including Australia, the UK, China and the US were also listed as investing heavily in developing autonomous weapons.2 In a more recent article, the BBC reported on drones with autonomous weapons being used by Russia in Ukraine, stating that ‘the move to drone warfare is a combination of necessity and innovation’.3 Autonomous weapons are here, and they are taking lives. What are the issues with autonomous weapons? There are many ethical and legal issues with autonomous weapons, particularly around accountability and responsibility. There are varying degrees of autonomy and, on the whole, militaries will want to use weapons with autonomous capabilities, with a person in the loop who permits the machine to strike a target (after the machine has identified and selected a target). The concern here is that people tend to place too much trust in technology. What awareness of the battlefield will the operator (potentially located thousands of miles away) have in practice? If communication links are broken or if fast decisions are required, a military advantage could be gained by dispensing with the person in the loop. Using a weapon to identify and eliminate an enemy target autonomously weakens the link between action and responsibility that is intrinsic to centuries of accepted ethics on warfare and international law. Autonomous weapons pose issues for legal responsibility, particularly when things go wrong. In war, things inevitably do go wrong, regardless of whether a human or a machine is in control. Accountability is much harder when a human did not fire the weapon or order the specific attack. If international law is broken, the wrong target is killed or a civilian bus is attacked instead of a military vehicle, who is responsible and who can explain what happened? The main ethical issues around autonomous weapons are over enabling life and death decisions to be made by technology, sensors and software, completely removing any agency, context or feelings out of decisions. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) describe this as a ‘dehumanising process that undermines our values and our shared humanity’. 4 Do we want a battlefield to become one where humans are reduced by technology to ‘datasets’, reducing human agency, context or feelings? What are we calling for? We are calling for greater restrictions and guidance on making the use of artificial intelligence safer, and for the well-being of people and planet. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are calling on political leaders to urgently establish new international rules on autonomous weapon systems, to protect humanity.5 Many governments, NGOs and faith groups have joined the call for negotiations to begin with legally binding prohibitions and restrictions on autonomous weapons. They also called for clear restrictions for all autonomous weapons to ensure compliance with international law and ethics. This would include limiting the use of where, when, for how long, strength of force, and the types of targets for which these weapons are used, as well as ensuring effective human supervision, intervention and deactivation. “Despite the increasing reports of testing and use of various types of autonomous weapon systems, it is not too late to take action.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric What now? Engage further by learning more about these issues in different ways with JPIT’s Future of Arms project. Sign the Stop Killer Robots petition Call on government leaders around the world to launch negotiations for new international law on autonomy in weapons systems – to ensure human control in the use of force and to prohibit machines that target people, reducing us to objects, stereotypes, and data points. Further reading: What you need to know about autonomous weapons | ICRC Killer Robots | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org) Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Are Here—and We Need to Regulate Them (foreignpolicy.com) Ukraine thrown into war’s bleak future as drones open new front – BBC News UN and Red Cross call for restrictions on autonomous weapon systems to protect humanity | UN News First Committee Approves New Resolution on Lethal Autonomous Weapons, as Speaker Warns ‘An Algorithm Must Not Be in Full Control of Decisions Involving Killing’ | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases (un.org) Annie Sharples, previous JPIT intern Source
- Getting Political Beyond the Ballot Box October 18, 2024 2:37 pm
How might Christians and Church communities engage with politics in the months and years after the General Election. Steve Tinning It’s been over 3 months since the UK General Election – a momentous election that saw a dramatic change in the make-up of the Westminster Parliament. For some of us, election campaigns are exciting whirlwinds – but as soon as the votes have been counted, our focus quickly moves on to following the next fascinating political soap opera, whether that’s the Conservative leadership contest or the US election. For others of us, the general election might be the only time we pay any serious attention to politics as we consider how we’re going to use our vote. There is no doubt, a General Election is a focal moment for political engagement, and serves, amongst other things, as an acute reminder of our civic responsibilities, but whether the election result left you disappointed or elated, or somewhere in between, the experiences of the government’s first 100 days have been a reminder that politics is too important to be left for elections alone. The issues that concerned us on the 3rd of July were still there on the 4th – and new challenges have emerged too. The JPIT team were thrilled to hear of so many churches using our ‘Love, Pray, Vote’ resources, hosting hustings, encouraging those in their communities to register and vote, and engaging with candidates on issues like poverty, the economy, climate change, immigration and peace, but we desperately hope these experiences might be a spring board to ongoing political engagement. For some reason, political engagement outside the election season has a reputation for being for the fanatics, the hardcore campaigners, or the pedants. Even amongst many Christians, there is a nervousness about getting too “political”, and yet a key part of any ongoing parliamentary process is the canvasing of a wide range of perspectives and opinions on any number of important issues – do we really think the Church’s voice should be absent from this engagement? I’d love for Christians around the country and the churches in which they gather to “get political” – not just at the ballot box, but as an ongoing posture of their lives as disciples of Christ. Getting political shouldn’t imply undying commitment to any particular party – rather, a commitment to keep aware of the issues that are impacting those in our communities and across the UK and wider world, especially those who are poor and/or marginalised. It would require us to make ourselves aware of policy work and legislation that might relate to these issues. We would need to give careful prayerful consideration to how faith in Jesus, and a commitment to the values of the Kingdom of God, might offer insights relevant to various political conversations, and we would need to discern what is our part to play in making our views known – influencing decision makers, both as individuals and as churches. Sounds like quite a commitment doesn’t it? But it needn’t be as overwhelming as it sounds, and JPIT is absolutely here to help. We have a commitment to keep providing Christians that care about peace and justice (all Christians I hope) with resources like our “Stay & Pray” social media messages, our “10 minutes on” podcast and other more detailed briefings, to enable you to stay in touch with certain political themes and agendas. But we are also building a brand-new network called the Constituency Action Network (CAN) for churches that want to be more intentional about their political engagement. For some individuals, signing petitions is their primary outlet to express their concerns about injustices, for others it might be attending a vigil or a protest, then there are those who write letters to their MPs or senior faith leaders. All these things are good and valuable ways of “getting political”, but if the Christian faith has anything to add to the conversation about how voices are heard and how change is realised, then surely it has something to do with the power of relationships. Sadly, many are put off political engagement because so much of the political discourse we see through social and mainstream media is hostile, embittered, cynical, despairing, arrogant and even violent. My experience of engaging with politicians, locally and nationally, however, has shown me that it is generally much more even-tempered than that, and that most of our elected representatives, whatever their party allegiance, are motivated by public service and a deep commitment to the communities they represent. What a witness we could be to the world if we could only find a way for our political engagement to resist the hostile narrative, and reflect both the fruit of the spirit and the relational heart of God on the journey. On occasion Jesus engaged with large crowds, but more often than not his most profound encounters were with individuals – moments when Jesus could really see people, could listen to their stories and concerns, and could speak in ways that often left a life changing impression. I wonder if for many churches the best pathway to getting political in an impactful way, might simply be to build more intentional relationships – relationships between the church and those in greatest need in your communities, and relationships between the church and those with greatest power. What a wonderful time it is to embark on such a commitment. More than half of the MPs elected in July have never been MPs before, and are looking to build relationships with those in their constituencies with their ears to the ground. So how about exploring going on a journey with your church and with your MP. Whatever their party or policy affiliations, these are people that have a responsibility to represent communities in some of the most important political discussions and decisions, and the power to bring about real change for the common good – but they are also just people, like you and me, people […]
- Challenge Poverty Week October 17, 2024 11:22 am
Challenging Poverty The story of the past decade has been of steadily increasing poverty alongside rapid deepening of poverty. As we enter Challenge Poverty Week it is important to understand what we mean by poverty and destitution, what its consequences are and why it can change. Rising Poverty. The numbers experiencing poverty moved from 13.1m to 14.4m between 2010 and 2024. This measure captures, those who don’t have enough to live and participate in society. Those with resources below this line must make hard choices about the very basics of life. It means trading off being able to heat your home, pay your rent, or buy the essentials for your children. Because poverty is about material resources its consequences are often described in terms of what can be afforded – but that misses its most insidious consequences. Living with the knowledge that tomorrow your kids may go hungry, tomorrow the brown envelope with “urgent” in red letters will come, or even the bailiff (with the physical threat and huge new fees that this brings) takes an enormous toll. Knowing that your kid is being bullied for not having the right stuff or can’t go on a school trip with their mates, feeling like you are failing those you love is heartbreaking and in the long run more damaging than skipping meals. I often sit listening to people tortured by their “bad decisions”, where they prioritised the “wrong” bill, bought the wrong thing, or spent a few pounds on something they now look back on as frivolous. Sitting on the outside what I see is impossible decisions where every choice had bad consequences and “mistakes” a higher earner would laugh off or possibly not even notice. Mostly however I am astonished that people are still carrying on trying to find a way through. We know that this constant pressure affects both mind and body. For example, poverty induces long-term and measurable increases in inflammatory mediators in the blood. Essentially the body puts itself into a state of preparing for damage – useful when temporary but when this state is prolonged it is linked with heart disease, stroke and some cancers. Taken together this is why the 14.4 million people experiencing poverty have hugely diminished life chances over the medium and long term. Poverty is linked with a shorter life, with a greater proportion of that life in poor health. It is also linked with poorer educational and health outcomes for their children. Poverty in the UK matters. It eats away at people’s dignity, health and opportunities today and into the future. Rising Destitution Destitution is about not having the very basics of life – food, shelter and hygiene. In 2012 there were 3.8 million people including 1 million children experiencing destitution in the UK. Twenty years ago, this form of deep poverty had largely been eliminated in the UK. When people were able to engage with statutory services there was sufficient support available to ensure they did not experience destitution. While mass destitution was gone, we knew that some people here not accessing support, and that complete eradication lay in addressing the barriers some faced in accessing the help they needed. Just over a decade ago it became clear that there were some people who after diligently seeking all the support available, remained destitute. A totemic example of this was local government “Welfare Assistance Schemes” offering tents and sleeping bags to people seeking help after a Section 21 no fault eviction. It was an eye-catching example of a more complex truth that the web of local, national and charitable schemes that caught people heading towards destitution was no longer functional. In response Joseph Rowntree Foundation designed a “consensual” measure of destitution – asking the UK public what it thinks destitution is and then assessing the number of people who met that definition. By 2015 that number was 1.25 million, before the pandemic it grew to 2.4million and today it stands at 3.8 million. While the consequences of poverty build up over time – destitution is destructive from day one. It hurts today and even a short spell of destitution has a huge scarring effect. One million children in the UK experience this and in any reasonable country it would be on the front page of every newspaper until it was stopped. Rising affluence It is important to recognise that while the 15 years of these increases in poverty could not be called “boom” years – even taking into account inflation average incomes went up, average wealth per household increased markedly and business wealth increased by even more. The way this increased income and wealth was distributed however ensured that the bottom of the income spectrum saw their standard of living drop and for many the basics of life were moved out of reach. It is important to note that this poverty creating distribution is not due to iron laws or invisible hands, it is caused by human choices taken in boardrooms, businesses and government offices. That comes with it the joyful knowledge that we can take different choices. Challenging Poverty together The most important task in challenging poverty is to care. To recognise it is an awful injustice visited upon real people, whose lives, stories and opinions matter. Let’s End Poverty is releasing “Dear PM” a booklet containing letters to the Prime Minister written by people who experience poverty, telling their stories, giving their view of what has gone wrong and what could be better. It’s a rich collection which will leave you, and hopefully the PM, in doubt that poverty is an injustice that can and must be addressed. Perhaps the biggest cause of increasing poverty is that the benefit system no longer offers the protection it once did. Half of people receiving the main low-income benefit, Universal Credit, skip meals each month. Research from JRF and the foodbank charity Trussell indicates that 5 out of 6 families receiving UC must miss out on essentials. An important step […]
- JPIT at Greenbelt September 27, 2024 11:14 am
Blog · 27 September, 2024 The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) joined up with Citizens UK during three workshops at Greenbelt Festival (22-25 August) to encourage and equip churches who are seeking justice in their neighbourhoods. In the wake of riots in cities in the UK where racism, antisemitism and islamophobia were rife, a large group of festivalgoers gathered with us to explore ways to repair fractured communities and rebuild a stronger society. We heard from community leaders who have responded to the rioters and other challenging circumstances in local communities. We reflected on Scripture, and how that can inspire us to be activists for positive change. The workshops also included practical ways to facilitate meaningful conversations and methods to enable productive meetings with MPs. The Constituency Action Network (CAN), facilitated by JPIT, was introduced in each session as a great way for churches to build meaningful relationships with MPs that are more than simply ‘transactional’ but help to build trust and understanding through listening, kindness and truthfulness. You can find out more about CAN at jpit.uk/can and more about Greenbelt at greenbelt.org.uk. Source
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