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| The Rev Paul Nicolson – a campaigning life in letters | The Rev Paul Nicolson – a campaigning life in letters |
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| ‘Rev Paul’, who died this month, wrote thousands of letters to newspapers campaigning against poverty. Many of them are republished below. Today, as his funeral takes place, many people will celebrate his life online with the hashtag #RevPaul | ‘Rev Paul’, who died this month, wrote thousands of letters to newspapers campaigning against poverty. Many of them are republished below. Today, as his funeral takes place, many people will celebrate his life online with the hashtag #RevPaul |
| For more than 20 years, one retired but indefatigable vicar, the Rev Paul Nicolson, sent thousands of letters for publication to newspapers – just one aspect of his work for two organisations that he set up to campaign against poverty: Z2K (the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust) and Taxpayers Against Poverty (TAP), which was launched by means of a letter in the Guardian. | For more than 20 years, one retired but indefatigable vicar, the Rev Paul Nicolson, sent thousands of letters for publication to newspapers – just one aspect of his work for two organisations that he set up to campaign against poverty: Z2K (the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust) and Taxpayers Against Poverty (TAP), which was launched by means of a letter in the Guardian. |
| “Rev Paul”, as he was simply known to many, died suddenly at the start of this month. Plans for his funeral – which takes place today, 30 March 2020, in Tottenham, London – had to be scaled back because of the coronavirus outbreak, and so his children have asked those not able to be there to join them virtually on the day by posting online with the hashtag #RevPaul. Here is an extract from the message they sent out via TAP: | |
| As our tribute to Rev Paul, we have collected together, below, many of those that the Guardian published. | As our tribute to Rev Paul, we have collected together, below, many of those that the Guardian published. |
| 20 July 1999: Paying for laissez-faire | 20 July 1999: Paying for laissez-faire |
| You refer to the most fundamental welfare principle of all: an adequate income (Leader, July 19). The standards required are those which will provide for essential needs, good health, satisfactory standards of child development, social cohesion and human dignity. To date, all governments stumble about in the dark. They even set levels of minimum incomes without the advice of a dietitian or nutritionist. | You refer to the most fundamental welfare principle of all: an adequate income (Leader, July 19). The standards required are those which will provide for essential needs, good health, satisfactory standards of child development, social cohesion and human dignity. To date, all governments stumble about in the dark. They even set levels of minimum incomes without the advice of a dietitian or nutritionist. |
| As a consequence, poor women have low birthweight babies with high morbidity and mortality rates throughout life. Semi-skilled and unskilled workers die, on average, five years younger. The poor experience double the rate of divorce and a higher rate of suicide among young people. Children who grow up in low-income families are more likely to leave school early after a lower attendance and achievement record and to have more contact with the police. | As a consequence, poor women have low birthweight babies with high morbidity and mortality rates throughout life. Semi-skilled and unskilled workers die, on average, five years younger. The poor experience double the rate of divorce and a higher rate of suicide among young people. Children who grow up in low-income families are more likely to leave school early after a lower attendance and achievement record and to have more contact with the police. |
| Poverty-related crime, ill health and other expensive consequences of poverty may cost the treasury more than ensuring people have adequate incomes. Lord Morris of Manchester’s amendment to the welfare reform and pensions bill this week will address these issues.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust | Poverty-related crime, ill health and other expensive consequences of poverty may cost the treasury more than ensuring people have adequate incomes. Lord Morris of Manchester’s amendment to the welfare reform and pensions bill this week will address these issues.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 9 March 2000: The education we deserve | 9 March 2000: The education we deserve |
| Nick Davies concludes “there is almost no connection between reality and the easy consensus of distant journalists and politicians” when comparing Roedean and Stanley Deacon schools. This political malaise affects education, health and crime. We help people prepare their means statements for the magistrates. The reality is that poverty is so bad that decent people are propelled into crime, die young, give birth to underweight children, fall ill through stress and inadequate diet, despair of clothing their children adequately for school and have unmanageable debts. | Nick Davies concludes “there is almost no connection between reality and the easy consensus of distant journalists and politicians” when comparing Roedean and Stanley Deacon schools. This political malaise affects education, health and crime. We help people prepare their means statements for the magistrates. The reality is that poverty is so bad that decent people are propelled into crime, die young, give birth to underweight children, fall ill through stress and inadequate diet, despair of clothing their children adequately for school and have unmanageable debts. |
| The easy consensus fails to take the government to task for grossly underestimating the depth of poverty which has built up. The hole in the middle of the polo mint policies of the “third way” awaits a diagnosis which admits to the reality, expense and social dangers of the extreme poverty of millions of adults in and out of work in Britain.Rev Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust | The easy consensus fails to take the government to task for grossly underestimating the depth of poverty which has built up. The hole in the middle of the polo mint policies of the “third way” awaits a diagnosis which admits to the reality, expense and social dangers of the extreme poverty of millions of adults in and out of work in Britain.Rev Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 13 May 2002: New views on an age-old question | 13 May 2002: New views on an age-old question |
| It is not sufficient for governments to formulate health policy on the grounds that the average life expectancy of men and women has increased dramatically since 1901. In 1972 low-paid men could expect to die aged 66.5 and professional men 5.5 years later. By 1999 low paid men could expect to die aged 71 and the gap had increased to 7.4 years. By 1999 low paid women could expect to live to 77.1 while their professional colleagues could enjoy another 5.7 years. | It is not sufficient for governments to formulate health policy on the grounds that the average life expectancy of men and women has increased dramatically since 1901. In 1972 low-paid men could expect to die aged 66.5 and professional men 5.5 years later. By 1999 low paid men could expect to die aged 71 and the gap had increased to 7.4 years. By 1999 low paid women could expect to live to 77.1 while their professional colleagues could enjoy another 5.7 years. |
| This punitive inequality in death is a measure of social injustice that should spur all political parties to tackle the poverty that lies behind it. Giving free TV licences to the 70% of professional workers who will live to 75 years old when 54% of low-paid workers will not is no part of a relevant policy.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | This punitive inequality in death is a measure of social injustice that should spur all political parties to tackle the poverty that lies behind it. Giving free TV licences to the 70% of professional workers who will live to 75 years old when 54% of low-paid workers will not is no part of a relevant policy.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 2 July 2003: Unobtainable | 2 July 2003: Unobtainable |
| Call centres and IT are being developed for the administrative convenience of government, but are leaving the poor and the vulnerable behind. | Call centres and IT are being developed for the administrative convenience of government, but are leaving the poor and the vulnerable behind. |
| It is not generally understood in Whitehall that the preferred means of communication of the poorest is now the pay-as-you-go mobile. Once it is paid for, at between £39 and £59, there is no further charge. But a minimum £5 top-up card must be bought to make outgoing calls, none of which is free. 0800 and 0870 calls can cost 10p a minute. Meanwhile, BT has cut off over 1 million landline subscribers and is removing phone boxes. | It is not generally understood in Whitehall that the preferred means of communication of the poorest is now the pay-as-you-go mobile. Once it is paid for, at between £39 and £59, there is no further charge. But a minimum £5 top-up card must be bought to make outgoing calls, none of which is free. 0800 and 0870 calls can cost 10p a minute. Meanwhile, BT has cut off over 1 million landline subscribers and is removing phone boxes. |
| I was recently at the magistrates court in High Wycombe. A young man had no money to pay a fine. He had not signed on for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA). To do that, he had to phone a call centre in Reading, deal with the Jobcentre in High Wycombe and, in the event of a delay in payment, phone the processing centre in Milton Keynes. | I was recently at the magistrates court in High Wycombe. A young man had no money to pay a fine. He had not signed on for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA). To do that, he had to phone a call centre in Reading, deal with the Jobcentre in High Wycombe and, in the event of a delay in payment, phone the processing centre in Milton Keynes. |
| I phoned the Reading call centre on my mobile to get him started. It took me an expensive 18 minutes to get through and a further five to complete the matter in hand. They were short-staffed in all three centres and it was taking over six weeks to process the benefit applications. | I phoned the Reading call centre on my mobile to get him started. It took me an expensive 18 minutes to get through and a further five to complete the matter in hand. They were short-staffed in all three centres and it was taking over six weeks to process the benefit applications. |
| Leaving young men on the streets with no money for weeks is dangerous - particularly so when they have just been released from prison. The Jobcentre’s answer was to offer a social fund loan to pay the fine, but repayment would have been deducted from a truly inadequate JSA of £43.25 at £10 a week. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that the bare minimum for healthy living should be £84 a week. | Leaving young men on the streets with no money for weeks is dangerous - particularly so when they have just been released from prison. The Jobcentre’s answer was to offer a social fund loan to pay the fine, but repayment would have been deducted from a truly inadequate JSA of £43.25 at £10 a week. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that the bare minimum for healthy living should be £84 a week. |
| The High Wycombe magistrates rightly adjourned the case until it was all sorted out.Rev Paul NicolsonZaccheus 2000 Trust | The High Wycombe magistrates rightly adjourned the case until it was all sorted out.Rev Paul NicolsonZaccheus 2000 Trust |
| 19 January 2005: Work to do | 19 January 2005: Work to do |
| It is necessary to qualify the accolade on the government’s record of reducing child poverty (Letters, January 18). The treatment of housing costs and tax in the statistics used and the damaging effect of the home credit market on poverty incomes call into question the claim that 700,000 children have been “lifted out of poverty”. The number of pensioners, families and working-age adults in poverty increased from 1979 to 1997, and, certainly for pensioners and families, the present government has reversed that trend (Letters, January 18). That is a significant achievement. But there has been no change or policy for working-age adults since 1997. There is a long way to go before Britain returns to lower levels of povertyRev Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust | It is necessary to qualify the accolade on the government’s record of reducing child poverty (Letters, January 18). The treatment of housing costs and tax in the statistics used and the damaging effect of the home credit market on poverty incomes call into question the claim that 700,000 children have been “lifted out of poverty”. The number of pensioners, families and working-age adults in poverty increased from 1979 to 1997, and, certainly for pensioners and families, the present government has reversed that trend (Letters, January 18). That is a significant achievement. But there has been no change or policy for working-age adults since 1997. There is a long way to go before Britain returns to lower levels of povertyRev Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 4 May 2005 | 4 May 2005 |
| David Brindle is right to ask questions about the social fund. (Opinion, April 13). The problem lies with the inadequacy of unemployment benefits that force households to borrow. | David Brindle is right to ask questions about the social fund. (Opinion, April 13). The problem lies with the inadequacy of unemployment benefits that force households to borrow. |
| In Wycombe magistrates court, where we attend every week to help people who cannot pay their fines prepare their means statements, three young men came in who had no money. It was going to take weeks to process their benefit applications for £44.50 a week; one man faced a two-week wait for the interview at the jobcentre that would decide if he was eligible. | In Wycombe magistrates court, where we attend every week to help people who cannot pay their fines prepare their means statements, three young men came in who had no money. It was going to take weeks to process their benefit applications for £44.50 a week; one man faced a two-week wait for the interview at the jobcentre that would decide if he was eligible. |
| Meanwhile the jobcentre offered a crisis loan of £60 from the social fund. When the benefit is ultimately paid, the repayments of the loan will be deducted at source at £10 a week and the fine at £5 a week, leaving £29.50. | Meanwhile the jobcentre offered a crisis loan of £60 from the social fund. When the benefit is ultimately paid, the repayments of the loan will be deducted at source at £10 a week and the fine at £5 a week, leaving £29.50. |
| Budget standards research shows that, as a national average, these men need £91 a week in order to live healthily, but £125 in London and the south-east.The Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Budget standards research shows that, as a national average, these men need £91 a week in order to live healthily, but £125 in London and the south-east.The Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 5 April 2006: The fight against child poverty | 5 April 2006: The fight against child poverty |
| Polly Toynbee is right to call the poverty lobby to account. We are a disparate, disorganised, competing lot that need to get our act together in order to reveal to the public the true and damaging nature of poverty in the UK. There is a powerful coalition of charities, faiths, health professionals and trades unions existing in embryo. It will need organisational drive. Then we could mount a powerful national campaign on the issues that matter most to the poorest citizens.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Polly Toynbee is right to call the poverty lobby to account. We are a disparate, disorganised, competing lot that need to get our act together in order to reveal to the public the true and damaging nature of poverty in the UK. There is a powerful coalition of charities, faiths, health professionals and trades unions existing in embryo. It will need organisational drive. Then we could mount a powerful national campaign on the issues that matter most to the poorest citizens.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 5 June 2006: Trapped in tax credit chaos | 5 June 2006: Trapped in tax credit chaos |
| Polly Toynbee is right - very many families in steady employment with few changes of circumstances have gained from tax credits. It all falls apart for vulnerable households when a change of circumstances involves fulfilling their duty to inform HMRC about tax credits and child benefit, the local authority about housing and council tax benefits and the jobcentre about jobseeker’s allowance and disability benefits. Cases are entering the courts where those on the lowest incomes are expected to repay around £7,000 or more in overpayments to all agencies. | Polly Toynbee is right - very many families in steady employment with few changes of circumstances have gained from tax credits. It all falls apart for vulnerable households when a change of circumstances involves fulfilling their duty to inform HMRC about tax credits and child benefit, the local authority about housing and council tax benefits and the jobcentre about jobseeker’s allowance and disability benefits. Cases are entering the courts where those on the lowest incomes are expected to repay around £7,000 or more in overpayments to all agencies. |
| Enforcement is driven by computers that have no means of identifying the illiterate, blind, disabled, pregnant, poor, mentally or chronically ill and in some cases dead. The starting points are threats of eviction for rent arrears or prison for council tax arrears. | Enforcement is driven by computers that have no means of identifying the illiterate, blind, disabled, pregnant, poor, mentally or chronically ill and in some cases dead. The starting points are threats of eviction for rent arrears or prison for council tax arrears. |
| An overpayment of tax credits can lead to a downward spiral of a family’s fortunes into a morass of debt.Rev Paul NicholsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | An overpayment of tax credits can lead to a downward spiral of a family’s fortunes into a morass of debt.Rev Paul NicholsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 19 June 2006: Tighten the belt on Britain’s expanding waistline | 19 June 2006: Tighten the belt on Britain’s expanding waistline |
| While moves to tackle the obesity crisis are welcome, what about the link between nutrition and the mental health super crisis? The health select committee estimated in 2002 that the direct cost of obesity to the NHS was between £990m and £1,225m; the direct cost of mental illness rose from £965m in 1983-84 to £5bn in 2003-04. One of the causes of the rise in mental illness, it has been found by the Institute for Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, is poor maternal nutrition before and after conception. It substantially increases the risk of low birthweight and developmental brain disorder. The incidence of low birthweight in the UK has risen from 6.6% in 1953 to 7.6% in 2003 - the highest rate of low birthweight in Europe. The Unicef/WHO 2004 analysis has Britain at 8%, on a par with Romania, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. In some inner-city areas in the UK the incidence reaches developing nations’ rates of 11% to 14%.Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | While moves to tackle the obesity crisis are welcome, what about the link between nutrition and the mental health super crisis? The health select committee estimated in 2002 that the direct cost of obesity to the NHS was between £990m and £1,225m; the direct cost of mental illness rose from £965m in 1983-84 to £5bn in 2003-04. One of the causes of the rise in mental illness, it has been found by the Institute for Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, is poor maternal nutrition before and after conception. It substantially increases the risk of low birthweight and developmental brain disorder. The incidence of low birthweight in the UK has risen from 6.6% in 1953 to 7.6% in 2003 - the highest rate of low birthweight in Europe. The Unicef/WHO 2004 analysis has Britain at 8%, on a par with Romania, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. In some inner-city areas in the UK the incidence reaches developing nations’ rates of 11% to 14%.Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 29 September 2006 Britain must target child poverty | 29 September 2006 Britain must target child poverty |
| Collette Marshall is right to emphasise the depth of poverty of the 1 million children suffering the severest income inequalities here. In societies where income differences between rich and poor are smaller not only do the levels of educational attainment among schoolchildren tend to be higher but also community life is stronger and people are much more likely to trust each other. There is less violence - including substantially lower homicide rates - health is better and life expectancy is several years longer. Prison populations are smaller, birth rates among teenagers are lower. Meanwhile, in Britain, unaffordable housing, debt, chronic overcrowding and a complex benefits system massively increase the stress of inequality in poor families.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust | Collette Marshall is right to emphasise the depth of poverty of the 1 million children suffering the severest income inequalities here. In societies where income differences between rich and poor are smaller not only do the levels of educational attainment among schoolchildren tend to be higher but also community life is stronger and people are much more likely to trust each other. There is less violence - including substantially lower homicide rates - health is better and life expectancy is several years longer. Prison populations are smaller, birth rates among teenagers are lower. Meanwhile, in Britain, unaffordable housing, debt, chronic overcrowding and a complex benefits system massively increase the stress of inequality in poor families.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 20 October 2006: We’re not green | 20 October 2006: We’re not green |
| Adam Smith would not only have taxed the rich (Letters, October 19), he also concerned himself with the reasonable needs of the poor. He argued that social necessities were no less important than physical necessities. “By necessaries I understand not only the commodities, which are indispensably necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to go without”. The government has refused requests to set up a Minimum Income Standards Commission.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Adam Smith would not only have taxed the rich (Letters, October 19), he also concerned himself with the reasonable needs of the poor. He argued that social necessities were no less important than physical necessities. “By necessaries I understand not only the commodities, which are indispensably necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to go without”. The government has refused requests to set up a Minimum Income Standards Commission.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 25 November 2006: Polly’s stand on poverty | 25 November 2006: Polly’s stand on poverty |
| It is not valid to describe the worst poverty in the UK as relative (If Cameron can climb on my caravan, anything is possible, November 23). Until politicians of all colours face the reality of absolute poverty here in Britain, they will not create policies to combat it. For example, around 60,000 young people leave care every year at the age of 16 with no financial or family support. When, or if, weeks later, the local authority gets around to carrying out their duty to assess their needs, they receive £34.60 a week until the age of 18, after rent and council tax, on which to survive independently. They are absolutely poor. | It is not valid to describe the worst poverty in the UK as relative (If Cameron can climb on my caravan, anything is possible, November 23). Until politicians of all colours face the reality of absolute poverty here in Britain, they will not create policies to combat it. For example, around 60,000 young people leave care every year at the age of 16 with no financial or family support. When, or if, weeks later, the local authority gets around to carrying out their duty to assess their needs, they receive £34.60 a week until the age of 18, after rent and council tax, on which to survive independently. They are absolutely poor. |
| The Family Budget Unit estimates that the minimum income standard for childless adults is a very tight £85 a week. Many migrants and UK nationals work in the black economy for much less than the national minimum wage and all statutory minimum incomes are below the government’s poverty thresholds. | The Family Budget Unit estimates that the minimum income standard for childless adults is a very tight £85 a week. Many migrants and UK nationals work in the black economy for much less than the national minimum wage and all statutory minimum incomes are below the government’s poverty thresholds. |
| To have no money anywhere is absolute poverty. To have far too little money in an expensive developed economy also threatens survival and is also absolute poverty. There are well-established truths that the poorest citizens in the UK are more likely to be ill, to die younger and to be disadvantaged in our schools. The prisons are full of people for whom survival became the overriding consideration. The pips are squeaking in the poorest households in the UK. Talk of relative poverty should be replaced by a debate that faces these facts.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | To have no money anywhere is absolute poverty. To have far too little money in an expensive developed economy also threatens survival and is also absolute poverty. There are well-established truths that the poorest citizens in the UK are more likely to be ill, to die younger and to be disadvantaged in our schools. The prisons are full of people for whom survival became the overriding consideration. The pips are squeaking in the poorest households in the UK. Talk of relative poverty should be replaced by a debate that faces these facts.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 25 June 2007: Campaign of pain | 25 June 2007: Campaign of pain |
| It is not only the residents of private care homes (No human rights for old in private homes, June 20) who are left without the protection of the human rights legislation after the decision of the House of Lords. The same anomaly exists whenever private companies undertake work that is paid for and is identical to that undertaken by public bodies. Public bodies can be challenged in law but private companies cannot. For example, some bailiffs are employed by local authorities to enforce council tax while others are employed by private companies doing identical work. The former can be challenged about irrational decisions against vulnerable debtors but, it seems, not the private companies.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust | It is not only the residents of private care homes (No human rights for old in private homes, June 20) who are left without the protection of the human rights legislation after the decision of the House of Lords. The same anomaly exists whenever private companies undertake work that is paid for and is identical to that undertaken by public bodies. Public bodies can be challenged in law but private companies cannot. For example, some bailiffs are employed by local authorities to enforce council tax while others are employed by private companies doing identical work. The former can be challenged about irrational decisions against vulnerable debtors but, it seems, not the private companies.Paul NicolsonZacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 25 July 2007: How to construct fairer access to housing | 25 July 2007: How to construct fairer access to housing |
| The government’s housing policy fails to grasp the nettles of lending and land reform at the heart of the housing crisis (Everyone is entitled to a stake in the nation’s soil and bricks, July 24). Doing as little as possible in order to avoid losing the votes of houseowners, or to win the votes of those who cannot get on to the housing ladder, is not a housing policy. | The government’s housing policy fails to grasp the nettles of lending and land reform at the heart of the housing crisis (Everyone is entitled to a stake in the nation’s soil and bricks, July 24). Doing as little as possible in order to avoid losing the votes of houseowners, or to win the votes of those who cannot get on to the housing ladder, is not a housing policy. |
| The rising value of land will continue to lead to ever-expanding inequalities in wealth as long as politicians treat it like a market with unlimited supply. The richer the wealthy become, the more they compete for the limited supply of land, squeezing poorer households with ever higher rents and the middle-class taxpayer with ever higher housing benefit, likely to exceed £20bn next year. | The rising value of land will continue to lead to ever-expanding inequalities in wealth as long as politicians treat it like a market with unlimited supply. The richer the wealthy become, the more they compete for the limited supply of land, squeezing poorer households with ever higher rents and the middle-class taxpayer with ever higher housing benefit, likely to exceed £20bn next year. |
| The taxation of land is back to front. It is taxed with business rates and council tax when in use but never when it lies idle. An annual land-value tax on all land, replacing the deeply regressive council tax, would discourage speculators from leaving property idle while waiting to sell and take the capital gain. | The taxation of land is back to front. It is taxed with business rates and council tax when in use but never when it lies idle. An annual land-value tax on all land, replacing the deeply regressive council tax, would discourage speculators from leaving property idle while waiting to sell and take the capital gain. |
| Increasing the supply of housing will not catch up with demand or reduce prices for decades, if ever; so the regulation of lending to prevent banks flooding with money a market in short supply should be reintroduced. | Increasing the supply of housing will not catch up with demand or reduce prices for decades, if ever; so the regulation of lending to prevent banks flooding with money a market in short supply should be reintroduced. |
| Finally, such schemes as community land trusts and limited liability partnerships, which remove land from the market in perpetuity, enabling rent and purchase at affordable prices, should be given maximum support by government.Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Finally, such schemes as community land trusts and limited liability partnerships, which remove land from the market in perpetuity, enabling rent and purchase at affordable prices, should be given maximum support by government.Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 31 August 2007: Creating wealth – and poverty | 31 August 2007: Creating wealth – and poverty |
| All is not as well in Britain as Sigmund Sternberg (Letters, August 30) would have us believe. All of us do not benefit from the way the free market is run by entrepreneurs, who undertake the vital task of managing the creation of wealth. | All is not as well in Britain as Sigmund Sternberg (Letters, August 30) would have us believe. All of us do not benefit from the way the free market is run by entrepreneurs, who undertake the vital task of managing the creation of wealth. |
| An independent inquiry into inequalities in health reported in 1999 that average incomes in the UK grew in real terms by about 40% between 1979 and 1994-95, but this growth was far greater (60-68%) among the richest 10th of the population. For the poorest 10th, average income increased by only 10% (before housing costs) or fell by 8% (after them). | An independent inquiry into inequalities in health reported in 1999 that average incomes in the UK grew in real terms by about 40% between 1979 and 1994-95, but this growth was far greater (60-68%) among the richest 10th of the population. For the poorest 10th, average income increased by only 10% (before housing costs) or fell by 8% (after them). |
| The Institute for Public Policy Research has estimated that the value of personally owned housing has risen from £36bn to £1,525bn in the past 30 years; but the number of people with no assets at all has doubled over the last 20 years from 5% to 10%. Economic inequality continues to increase; it is damaging social cohesion. | The Institute for Public Policy Research has estimated that the value of personally owned housing has risen from £36bn to £1,525bn in the past 30 years; but the number of people with no assets at all has doubled over the last 20 years from 5% to 10%. Economic inequality continues to increase; it is damaging social cohesion. |
| Neither Sternberg’s rose-tinted spectacles nor the spray-gun approach to condemning the free market, capitalism and City bonuses will create a nation at ease with itself; but much will depend on Sternberg and his colleagues opening their eyes to the poverty they create, alongside the wealth and to reverse the trend. We seek justice, not charity.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Neither Sternberg’s rose-tinted spectacles nor the spray-gun approach to condemning the free market, capitalism and City bonuses will create a nation at ease with itself; but much will depend on Sternberg and his colleagues opening their eyes to the poverty they create, alongside the wealth and to reverse the trend. We seek justice, not charity.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 11 September 2007: New laws won’t change the business of sex | 11 September 2007: New laws won’t change the business of sex |
| Prosecuting men for buying sex will deprive too many men and women of an income they would not choose to earn but for their extreme poverty. Will the government ensure that the poorest of them, who are paid for sex, have sufficient benefits, tax credits or minimum wage to ensure that prostitution is not a necessary survival strategy?Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Prosecuting men for buying sex will deprive too many men and women of an income they would not choose to earn but for their extreme poverty. Will the government ensure that the poorest of them, who are paid for sex, have sufficient benefits, tax credits or minimum wage to ensure that prostitution is not a necessary survival strategy?Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 14 November 2007: Financial time bomb faces the poor | 14 November 2007: Financial time bomb faces the poor |
| Polly Toynbee asks why nothing has been done about subprime lenders like Provident, who charge lone mothers receiving unemployment benefits £700 on a £1,000 loan. We can tell her. Debt on our Doorstep and ourselves gave evidence to the Competition Commission’s enquiry into home credit and lobbied MPs and peers during the passage of the consumer credit bill calling for a cap on interest rates. | Polly Toynbee asks why nothing has been done about subprime lenders like Provident, who charge lone mothers receiving unemployment benefits £700 on a £1,000 loan. We can tell her. Debt on our Doorstep and ourselves gave evidence to the Competition Commission’s enquiry into home credit and lobbied MPs and peers during the passage of the consumer credit bill calling for a cap on interest rates. |
| We were opposed by academics, the National Consumer Council and the National Association of Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, which all bought Provident’s gigantic bluff that if there were a cap on interest, it would go out of business, leaving the home credit market to loan sharks. None of our opponents worked out the level of interest at which Provident could comfortably stay in business. | We were opposed by academics, the National Consumer Council and the National Association of Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, which all bought Provident’s gigantic bluff that if there were a cap on interest, it would go out of business, leaving the home credit market to loan sharks. None of our opponents worked out the level of interest at which Provident could comfortably stay in business. |
| This trust is currently supporting an unemployed lone mother who was given her first TV, but did not buy a licence for three weeks. She was fined £270. In a panic she borrowed £270 with £150 interest from Provident and paid the fine in cash. But she then faced a claim for bailiff and court costs. They all ignored national standards for enforcement agents covering vulnerable situations, which requires such a case to be returned to court, where the magistrates can remit all or part of the fine. This is what happened when a colleague overheard the distressed woman telling her story in a cafe and referred her to us. The government fails to coordinate the jaws of state; it sinks its teeth into the lowest incomes, while avoiding any limit on eating up poverty incomes.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | This trust is currently supporting an unemployed lone mother who was given her first TV, but did not buy a licence for three weeks. She was fined £270. In a panic she borrowed £270 with £150 interest from Provident and paid the fine in cash. But she then faced a claim for bailiff and court costs. They all ignored national standards for enforcement agents covering vulnerable situations, which requires such a case to be returned to court, where the magistrates can remit all or part of the fine. This is what happened when a colleague overheard the distressed woman telling her story in a cafe and referred her to us. The government fails to coordinate the jaws of state; it sinks its teeth into the lowest incomes, while avoiding any limit on eating up poverty incomes.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 2 July 2008: We need the courage to fight poverty | 2 July 2008: We need the courage to fight poverty |
| There is a strong desire in parliament and among NGOs and some employers to end poverty in the UK; but there are as many policies for doing it as there are government departments and NGO campaigns. The Family Budget Unit and The Centre for Social Policy Research have now provided a focus on the weekly cost of minimum needs for a healthy life and essential participation in the community, in their publication of minimum income standards yesterday. | There is a strong desire in parliament and among NGOs and some employers to end poverty in the UK; but there are as many policies for doing it as there are government departments and NGO campaigns. The Family Budget Unit and The Centre for Social Policy Research have now provided a focus on the weekly cost of minimum needs for a healthy life and essential participation in the community, in their publication of minimum income standards yesterday. |
| The economy cannot afford to leave statutory minimum incomes so low that costly poverty-related ill health and educational underachievement flood into excellent hospitals and schools, and crime into the courts and prisons; nor to leave those inadequate incomes to reach their beneficiaries through the stressful maze of four statutory agencies. | The economy cannot afford to leave statutory minimum incomes so low that costly poverty-related ill health and educational underachievement flood into excellent hospitals and schools, and crime into the courts and prisons; nor to leave those inadequate incomes to reach their beneficiaries through the stressful maze of four statutory agencies. |
| The chaotic housing market adds to the stress of poverty in the UK, with futile attempts to reform the housing benefit system, all of which make poverty worse. The absence of housing supply and the deregulation of lending have combined to lift the cost of housing benefit from £5.4bn in 1988 to £20bn now. | The chaotic housing market adds to the stress of poverty in the UK, with futile attempts to reform the housing benefit system, all of which make poverty worse. The absence of housing supply and the deregulation of lending have combined to lift the cost of housing benefit from £5.4bn in 1988 to £20bn now. |
| The scandal of state-imposed welfare poverty makes people ill and stops their children getting a decent education. It is in the taxpayer’s interest to end poverty with adequate incomes and save billions.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | The scandal of state-imposed welfare poverty makes people ill and stops their children getting a decent education. It is in the taxpayer’s interest to end poverty with adequate incomes and save billions.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 15 September 2008: A chilling winter of discontent | 15 September 2008: A chilling winter of discontent |
| Whitehall has introduced bureaucratic solutions to fuel poverty by making the vulnerable and impoverished apply for social tariffs and insulation (Lofty ideals, September 12). A minister on TV was telling people to make a phone call, apparently not knowing that BT has cut off 1m land lines, and pay-as-you-go mobile phones quickly run out of credit hanging on to “free-phone” calls at 50p a minute. The winter fuel payment is paid direct into pensioners’ accounts, but 1.8 million are not so lucky because they have not applied for pension credit because it is too intimidating, humiliating and fault prone for many of them. | Whitehall has introduced bureaucratic solutions to fuel poverty by making the vulnerable and impoverished apply for social tariffs and insulation (Lofty ideals, September 12). A minister on TV was telling people to make a phone call, apparently not knowing that BT has cut off 1m land lines, and pay-as-you-go mobile phones quickly run out of credit hanging on to “free-phone” calls at 50p a minute. The winter fuel payment is paid direct into pensioners’ accounts, but 1.8 million are not so lucky because they have not applied for pension credit because it is too intimidating, humiliating and fault prone for many of them. |
| Without a direct and uncomplicated injection of cash through the benefit system it is certain that the utility companies will attend the magistrates’ courts with sheaves of applications to break into the homes of impoverished customers who cannot pay their bills to install pay as you go meters, charging the customer both the court costs, and more for fuel than those who pay by direct debit. Come the winter some people in perfectly insulated houses will not have the money to feed the meters or themselves.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Without a direct and uncomplicated injection of cash through the benefit system it is certain that the utility companies will attend the magistrates’ courts with sheaves of applications to break into the homes of impoverished customers who cannot pay their bills to install pay as you go meters, charging the customer both the court costs, and more for fuel than those who pay by direct debit. Come the winter some people in perfectly insulated houses will not have the money to feed the meters or themselves.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 22 December 2008: Moral hazard of forcing people into poverty | 22 December 2008: Moral hazard of forcing people into poverty |
| Polly Toynbee is right to highlight the inadequacy of the unemployment benefit for single adults of £60.50 a week (The prospect of another lost generation is a chilling one, 20 December); it is half the government’s poverty threshold and 42% of the minimum income needed for healthy living as established by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It will increase to just £64.30 in April 2009. | Polly Toynbee is right to highlight the inadequacy of the unemployment benefit for single adults of £60.50 a week (The prospect of another lost generation is a chilling one, 20 December); it is half the government’s poverty threshold and 42% of the minimum income needed for healthy living as established by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It will increase to just £64.30 in April 2009. |
| Economists and civil servants have always advised politicians about the moral hazard that people will not go to work if their unemployment benefit is too high, but forget the moral hazard when it is below the minimum needed for healthy survival, which is a powerful motivator pushing decent people over the top into immoral and illegal behaviour. That is the danger of fining the unemployed for a failure to engage with the authorities about work or training; benefits are already far too low in this very expensive economy. There is no justice in the government preaching about rights and responsibilities to its poorest citizens when it has not accepted the responsibility to provide adequate minimum incomes in work or unemployment. The minimum wage is a poverty wage in London and many other areas.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | Economists and civil servants have always advised politicians about the moral hazard that people will not go to work if their unemployment benefit is too high, but forget the moral hazard when it is below the minimum needed for healthy survival, which is a powerful motivator pushing decent people over the top into immoral and illegal behaviour. That is the danger of fining the unemployed for a failure to engage with the authorities about work or training; benefits are already far too low in this very expensive economy. There is no justice in the government preaching about rights and responsibilities to its poorest citizens when it has not accepted the responsibility to provide adequate minimum incomes in work or unemployment. The minimum wage is a poverty wage in London and many other areas.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 2 January 2009: Churches need to revive a truly rigorous Christian critique of the free market | 2 January 2009: Churches need to revive a truly rigorous Christian critique of the free market |
| The Bishop of Durham is not as wrong in claiming the poor have got poorer under New Labour, who have called a halt to the rise in the numbers of pensioners and children in poverty under the Conservatives, but failed the very poor. | The Bishop of Durham is not as wrong in claiming the poor have got poorer under New Labour, who have called a halt to the rise in the numbers of pensioners and children in poverty under the Conservatives, but failed the very poor. |
| A report by Save the Children in 2005 found that there has been little or no improvement in the proportion of children living in severe poverty since 1997. The Centre Forum calculated the number of people with incomes below 40% of the median income, rather than the government’s poverty threshold of 60%, and found that it had increased by 250,000 between 1994-05 and 2003-04. On the governments measure, the number of childless adults in poverty increased by 500,000 between 1996-97 and 2005-06. Since 2004 the number of children and adults below the government’s poverty threshold has started to increase and this year the rising prices of food, utilities and transport have hit the 2.5 million pensioners and 3.9 million children below the threshold.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | A report by Save the Children in 2005 found that there has been little or no improvement in the proportion of children living in severe poverty since 1997. The Centre Forum calculated the number of people with incomes below 40% of the median income, rather than the government’s poverty threshold of 60%, and found that it had increased by 250,000 between 1994-05 and 2003-04. On the governments measure, the number of childless adults in poverty increased by 500,000 between 1996-97 and 2005-06. Since 2004 the number of children and adults below the government’s poverty threshold has started to increase and this year the rising prices of food, utilities and transport have hit the 2.5 million pensioners and 3.9 million children below the threshold.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 25 March 2009: Support people rather than jobs | 25 March 2009: Support people rather than jobs |
| Polly Toynbee tells of the incredulity of the newly unemployed when they find their benefit is a workhouse rate of £60.50 a week. Incredulity is multiplied by the reply of the government to a debate about increasing it initiated by Julie Jones MP in the third reading of the welfare reform bill. She was told that would fundamentally undermine what the benefits system and the welfare state are there for. | Polly Toynbee tells of the incredulity of the newly unemployed when they find their benefit is a workhouse rate of £60.50 a week. Incredulity is multiplied by the reply of the government to a debate about increasing it initiated by Julie Jones MP in the third reading of the welfare reform bill. She was told that would fundamentally undermine what the benefits system and the welfare state are there for. |
| The government should re-read the 1942 Beveridge report, which recommended that the benefit scheme should embody principles including unification of administrative responsibility, now shattered into many agencies; and adequacy, totally ignored by all British governments; and added that the aim of the plan for social security is to make want under any circumstances unnecessary.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | The government should re-read the 1942 Beveridge report, which recommended that the benefit scheme should embody principles including unification of administrative responsibility, now shattered into many agencies; and adequacy, totally ignored by all British governments; and added that the aim of the plan for social security is to make want under any circumstances unnecessary.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 11 May 2009: Wealth, poverty and a glaring disparity | 11 May 2009: Wealth, poverty and a glaring disparity |
| The 7.5 million adults of working age living in poverty in the UK, an increase of 800,000 since 1998, are often left out of press comment on government statistics. Many are receiving poverty incomes while unemployed, which are due to be sanctioned should they not seek work. John Mason MP, supported by Paul Rowen MP, tabled amendments to the welfare reform bill designed to ensure sanctions do not leave claimants with an income too low to sustain healthy living and are not applied in ignorance of a claimant’s means. | The 7.5 million adults of working age living in poverty in the UK, an increase of 800,000 since 1998, are often left out of press comment on government statistics. Many are receiving poverty incomes while unemployed, which are due to be sanctioned should they not seek work. John Mason MP, supported by Paul Rowen MP, tabled amendments to the welfare reform bill designed to ensure sanctions do not leave claimants with an income too low to sustain healthy living and are not applied in ignorance of a claimant’s means. |
| The government replied the amendments missed the basic point because there is a contract between the applicant and the state and, if one obeys the rules, no sanctions will be applied. However, rights and responsibilities apply both ways. Since 1948, successive British governments have been signed up to the right to an adequate standard of living as detailed in the UN’s convention on human rights, but have not honoured their side of the contract by implementing that right in adequate unemployment incomes. We hope peers debating the bill will understand that reducing with sanctions £50.95 a week adult unemployment benefit for 18-25-year-olds, or £64.30 thereafter, which is less than half the poverty threshold, can never be justified by a shallow appeal to an unjust social contract.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | The government replied the amendments missed the basic point because there is a contract between the applicant and the state and, if one obeys the rules, no sanctions will be applied. However, rights and responsibilities apply both ways. Since 1948, successive British governments have been signed up to the right to an adequate standard of living as detailed in the UN’s convention on human rights, but have not honoured their side of the contract by implementing that right in adequate unemployment incomes. We hope peers debating the bill will understand that reducing with sanctions £50.95 a week adult unemployment benefit for 18-25-year-olds, or £64.30 thereafter, which is less than half the poverty threshold, can never be justified by a shallow appeal to an unjust social contract.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 22 May 2009: Double blow for poor mothers | 22 May 2009: Double blow for poor mothers |
| The tragedy is (Jenni Russell, 21 May) that ministers for decades have swallowed hook, line and bath plug the message of their advisers that an unemployment income below subsistence level at £64.30 a week is needed to force the idle into work. European countries pay 53% to 69% of average earnings to a jobless adult, quite low enough to encourage willing human beings to seek employment, while Britain pays 40%. The welfare reform bill will reduce that £64.30 paid to lone mothers if they do not seek work or engage in work-related activity.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | The tragedy is (Jenni Russell, 21 May) that ministers for decades have swallowed hook, line and bath plug the message of their advisers that an unemployment income below subsistence level at £64.30 a week is needed to force the idle into work. European countries pay 53% to 69% of average earnings to a jobless adult, quite low enough to encourage willing human beings to seek employment, while Britain pays 40%. The welfare reform bill will reduce that £64.30 paid to lone mothers if they do not seek work or engage in work-related activity.Rev Paul NicolsonChairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 13 June 2009: Welfare bill won’t reduce poverty | 13 June 2009: Welfare bill won’t reduce poverty |
| The welfare reform bill ignores one essential principle, which should inform all of the many regulations about job-seeking conditions, work-related activities etc. Lord Northbourne’s amendment, supported in the debate by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, but not by the government, requires due consideration to be given to the wellbeing of any child whose life might be affected by the decisions of officials implementing such regulations. | The welfare reform bill ignores one essential principle, which should inform all of the many regulations about job-seeking conditions, work-related activities etc. Lord Northbourne’s amendment, supported in the debate by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, but not by the government, requires due consideration to be given to the wellbeing of any child whose life might be affected by the decisions of officials implementing such regulations. |
| The government’s good intentions are marred by an overemphasis on the benefit to a family of parents moving out of unemployment into work. Children become official barriers to work rather than the overriding responsibility of parents. Work is beneficial if it is adequately paid and the children are not harmed because the parental bond is strained or broken when they are put into childcare at crucial stages of their educational and emotional development. | The government’s good intentions are marred by an overemphasis on the benefit to a family of parents moving out of unemployment into work. Children become official barriers to work rather than the overriding responsibility of parents. Work is beneficial if it is adequately paid and the children are not harmed because the parental bond is strained or broken when they are put into childcare at crucial stages of their educational and emotional development. |
| The bill has the balance of power wrong at the point where officialdom touches family life. The social security advisory committee questioned the government’s primary analysis that people are unwilling to work and unlikely to work, and need to be coerced into employment. A more socially aware analysis is that parents love their children, want to do their best for them and should have their commitment empowered and encouraged.Rev Paul NicolsonChair, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust | The bill has the balance of power wrong at the point where officialdom touches family life. The social security advisory committee questioned the government’s primary analysis that people are unwilling to work and unlikely to work, and need to be coerced into employment. A more socially aware analysis is that parents love their children, want to do their best for them and should have their commitment empowered and encouraged.Rev Paul NicolsonChair, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust |
| 25 August 2009: Welfare to work is failing the jobless | 25 August 2009: Welfare to work is failing the jobless |
| 14 September 2009: Double whammy for the poor | 14 September 2009: Double whammy for the poor |
| 7 October 2009: Stealing from the poor to give to the rich | 7 October 2009: Stealing from the poor to give to the rich |
| 18 November 2009: How to plug the budget gap without hitting the poorest | 18 November 2009: How to plug the budget gap without hitting the poorest |
| 14 January 2010: Poverty and parenting both affect children | 14 January 2010: Poverty and parenting both affect children |
| 26 May 2010: To fix Britain, we must tackle poverty | 26 May 2010: To fix Britain, we must tackle poverty |
| 5 August 2010: Not just a house but a home | 5 August 2010: Not just a house but a home |
| 16 August 2010: Spirited defence of a level playing field | 16 August 2010: Spirited defence of a level playing field |
| 19 October 2010: It’s the poor who are being clobbered | 19 October 2010: It’s the poor who are being clobbered |
| 27 November 2010: Ruling curtails debate on cuts bills | 27 November 2010: Ruling curtails debate on cuts bills |
| 7 December 2010: Improving public health and tackling inequality | 7 December 2010: Improving public health and tackling inequality |
| 8 January 2011: The poor can’t avoid Micawber’s principle | 8 January 2011: The poor can’t avoid Micawber’s principle |
| 8 March 2011: Welfare reform bill will punish disabled people and the poor | 8 March 2011: Welfare reform bill will punish disabled people and the poor |
| 2 April 2011: Tackling income inequality the way to improve social mobility | 2 April 2011: Tackling income inequality the way to improve social mobility |
| 3 June 2011: On the fault lines of fractured Britain’ | 3 June 2011: On the fault lines of fractured Britain’ |
| 4 July 2011: The ABC of early years intervention | 4 July 2011: The ABC of early years intervention |
| 12 July 2011: Laspo and the punishment of poverty | 12 July 2011: Laspo and the punishment of poverty |
| 10 August 2011: Breakdown of the social contract | 10 August 2011: Breakdown of the social contract |
| 16 August 2011: Law and order crackdown and the price we could pay | 16 August 2011: Law and order crackdown and the price we could pay |
| 10 October 2011: We need minimum income standards | 10 October 2011: We need minimum income standards |
| 7 November 2011: Political struggle over benefit cuts | 7 November 2011: Political struggle over benefit cuts |
| 20 December 2011: St Paul’s and the right to protest | 20 December 2011: St Paul’s and the right to protest |
| 17 February 2012: A taxpayers’ alliance to promote social justice | 17 February 2012: A taxpayers’ alliance to promote social justice |
| Ministers at the Department of Work and Pensions repeat ad nauseam their mantra: “It is not fair for taxpayers to be asked to pay for the cost of spare bedrooms, or housing benefit which is high in central London because rents are high etc, etc.” Therefore the poorest citizens are thrust into unmanageable debt by caps and cuts in housing benefit, possible eviction, forced migration, undue stress and misery. As a citizen who pays income and council tax, VAT and the excise duty on my evening glass of wine, I steam with indignation each time I am used by ministers to justify such draconian measures making people poorer. | Ministers at the Department of Work and Pensions repeat ad nauseam their mantra: “It is not fair for taxpayers to be asked to pay for the cost of spare bedrooms, or housing benefit which is high in central London because rents are high etc, etc.” Therefore the poorest citizens are thrust into unmanageable debt by caps and cuts in housing benefit, possible eviction, forced migration, undue stress and misery. As a citizen who pays income and council tax, VAT and the excise duty on my evening glass of wine, I steam with indignation each time I am used by ministers to justify such draconian measures making people poorer. |
| I am glad my taxation is used to enable my fellow citizens, both in and out of work, to buy enough food, clothes, fuel, transport and other necessities, to pay council tax and the rent of secure homes, when they have no other means to do so; and bewildered by the short-sightedness of a policy which deliberately reduces the totally inadequate adult JSA of £67.50 a week by creating rent arrears, with debt-related mental health problems and high extra costs for a hard-pressed NHS. | I am glad my taxation is used to enable my fellow citizens, both in and out of work, to buy enough food, clothes, fuel, transport and other necessities, to pay council tax and the rent of secure homes, when they have no other means to do so; and bewildered by the short-sightedness of a policy which deliberately reduces the totally inadequate adult JSA of £67.50 a week by creating rent arrears, with debt-related mental health problems and high extra costs for a hard-pressed NHS. |
| The self-evident unfairness is the current policy of dumping national debt and deficit reduction on the incomes of the squeezed middle and poorest citizens, while the higher-paid taxpayers experience no financial inconvenience. Meanwhile the OECD reports that $11.5 trillion, including bonuses, is parked in overseas accounts and the Treasury is aware that £100bn of property in central London alone is registered overseas – both out of reach of the taxman. That really is unfair. I hope thousands will join Taxpayers Against Poverty, TAP, to say so loud and clear. All we need is an email.Rev Paul NicolsontaxpayersagainstpovertyTAP@gmail.com | The self-evident unfairness is the current policy of dumping national debt and deficit reduction on the incomes of the squeezed middle and poorest citizens, while the higher-paid taxpayers experience no financial inconvenience. Meanwhile the OECD reports that $11.5 trillion, including bonuses, is parked in overseas accounts and the Treasury is aware that £100bn of property in central London alone is registered overseas – both out of reach of the taxman. That really is unfair. I hope thousands will join Taxpayers Against Poverty, TAP, to say so loud and clear. All we need is an email.Rev Paul NicolsontaxpayersagainstpovertyTAP@gmail.com |
| 7 March 2012: How to free up funds for legal aid | 7 March 2012: How to free up funds for legal aid |
| 30 March 2012: The riots’ deeper roots in poverty and alienation | 30 March 2012: The riots’ deeper roots in poverty and alienation |
| 17 April 2012: A tree for the chancellor, housing benefit and mixed communities | 17 April 2012: A tree for the chancellor, housing benefit and mixed communities |
| 1 May 2012: Tories are out of touch with housing reality | 1 May 2012: Tories are out of touch with housing reality |
| 11 May 2012: Parliament fails to accommodate growing housing problem | 11 May 2012: Parliament fails to accommodate growing housing problem |
| 10 July 2012: The acceptable face of banking | 10 July 2012: The acceptable face of banking |
| 19 July 2012: Poorest pay the price of railway investment | 19 July 2012: Poorest pay the price of railway investment |
| 16 August 2012: Rising rail fares and the battle over investment | 16 August 2012: Rising rail fares and the battle over investment |
| 25 August 2012: Food banks are a symptom of failure | 25 August 2012: Food banks are a symptom of failure |
| 8 September 2012: Again the most vulnerable suffer | 8 September 2012: Again the most vulnerable suffer |
| 17 October 2012: The church is failing our poorest citizens | 17 October 2012: The church is failing our poorest citizens |
| 6 November 2012: Women and the poor hit most by cuts | 6 November 2012: Women and the poor hit most by cuts |
| 15 November 2012: Eton only reinforces class privilege | 15 November 2012: Eton only reinforces class privilege |
| 2 January 2013: Survival of the fittest in 2013 | 2 January 2013: Survival of the fittest in 2013 |
| 22 January 2013: Council tax blow to people on benefits | 22 January 2013: Council tax blow to people on benefits |
| 15 February 2013: The poor are paying a high price in Camden | 15 February 2013: The poor are paying a high price in Camden |
| 16 May 2013: Help from charities becoming a lottery | 16 May 2013: Help from charities becoming a lottery |
| 31 May 2013: Food banks just part of Tories plan | 31 May 2013: Food banks just part of Tories plan |
| 21 June 2013: Austerity policies are costing the British economy billions | 21 June 2013: Austerity policies are costing the British economy billions |
| 28 August 2013: King’s speech | 28 August 2013: King’s speech |
| 12 September 2013: Bedroom tax is revealed as immoral and absurd | 12 September 2013: Bedroom tax is revealed as immoral and absurd |
| 24 September 2013: Bedroom tax worse than the poll tax | 24 September 2013: Bedroom tax worse than the poll tax |
| 12 October 2013: Roots of UKs chaotic housing market | 12 October 2013: Roots of UKs chaotic housing market |
| 7 November 2013: From today, women work for free | 7 November 2013: From today, women work for free |
| 4 December 2013: Cuts that leave the poor hungry and cold | 4 December 2013: Cuts that leave the poor hungry and cold |
| 24 December 2013: The festive season in a fragmented society | 24 December 2013: The festive season in a fragmented society |
| 19 February 2014: Question over the capability of Atos | 19 February 2014: Question over the capability of Atos |
| 28 February 2014: Housing crisis needs urgent attention | 28 February 2014: Housing crisis needs urgent attention |
| 19 March 2014: Poor analysis puts rich in the middle | 19 March 2014: Poor analysis puts rich in the middle |
| 21 March 2014: A budget of spin, bribery and not a jot of humanity | 21 March 2014: A budget of spin, bribery and not a jot of humanity |
| 8 April 2014: Housing: the black hole at the centre of society | 8 April 2014: Housing: the black hole at the centre of society |
| 18 July 2014: Bedroom tax is forcing poorest citizens into unmanageable debt | 18 July 2014: Bedroom tax is forcing poorest citizens into unmanageable debt |
| 20 August 2014: The families at the front of the PM’s mind | 20 August 2014: The families at the front of the PM’s mind |
| 27 August 2014: Christianity needs bishops who speak up against oppression | 27 August 2014: Christianity needs bishops who speak up against oppression |
| 5 September 2014: Charities, knitting and democracy | 5 September 2014: Charities, knitting and democracy |
| 2 October 2014: Benefit freezes and the final nail in caring Conservatism’s coffin | 2 October 2014: Benefit freezes and the final nail in caring Conservatism’s coffin |
| 14 October 2014: What Labour can do to see off the threat posed by Ukip | 14 October 2014: What Labour can do to see off the threat posed by Ukip |
| 23 October 2014: Social mobility and a toxic recipe for poverty | 23 October 2014: Social mobility and a toxic recipe for poverty |
| 3 November 2014: Key judgments on council benefit cuts | 3 November 2014: Key judgments on council benefit cuts |
| 20 November 2014: Affordable housing under the spotlight | 20 November 2014: Affordable housing under the spotlight |
| 11 February 2015: HSBC files: Clergy’s role is to help the poor not the rich | 11 February 2015: HSBC files: Clergy’s role is to help the poor not the rich |
| 2 March 2015: We need to talk about immigration policy | 2 March 2015: We need to talk about immigration policy |
| 17 March 2015: UK must spend more on the vulnerable | 17 March 2015: UK must spend more on the vulnerable |
| 14 April 2015: Plenty of pledges on the NHS, fewer firm figures | 14 April 2015: Plenty of pledges on the NHS, fewer firm figures |
| 23 April 2015: Web must be free from political meddling | 23 April 2015: Web must be free from political meddling |
| 14 May 2015: Devolution and the shrinking of the state | 14 May 2015: Devolution and the shrinking of the state |
| 29 May 2015: Despair, and a little hope, at the Queen’s speech | 29 May 2015: Despair, and a little hope, at the Queen’s speech |
| 5 October 2015: Labour councils can give the poor a break | 5 October 2015: Labour councils can give the poor a break |
| 21 November 2015: UK’s housing crisis will only be made worse by this bill | 21 November 2015: UK’s housing crisis will only be made worse by this bill |
| 4 December 2015: Trapped in a cycle of debt and poor health | 4 December 2015: Trapped in a cycle of debt and poor health |
| 15 December 2015: Scrooge is at large on UK’s hungry streets | 15 December 2015: Scrooge is at large on UK’s hungry streets |
| 16 January 2016: Finally, the Tories get the states vital role | 16 January 2016: Finally, the Tories get the states vital role |
| 15 March 2016: Homelessness and housing policies | 15 March 2016: Homelessness and housing policies |
| 06 April 2016: HMRC’s struggles to keep up with dodgers | 06 April 2016: HMRC’s struggles to keep up with dodgers |
| 13 Apr 2016: A challenge to gross privilege and inequality | 13 Apr 2016: A challenge to gross privilege and inequality |
| 19 Apr 2016: Create a fairer society with tax disobedience | 19 Apr 2016: Create a fairer society with tax disobedience |
| 06 May 2016: This housing crisis needs solutions that stand up | 06 May 2016: This housing crisis needs solutions that stand up |
| 26 May 2016: Community costs of the towers for toffs | 26 May 2016: Community costs of the towers for toffs |
| 17 Jun 2016: Those in power have a duty of stewardship | 17 Jun 2016: Those in power have a duty of stewardship |
| 02 Aug 2016: The arithmetic of the powerful and the poor | 02 Aug 2016: The arithmetic of the powerful and the poor |
| 08 Aug 2016: Child geniuses and octogenarian views | 08 Aug 2016: Child geniuses and octogenarian views |
| 18 Aug 2016: Labour must pledge to end homelessness | 18 Aug 2016: Labour must pledge to end homelessness |
| 04 Oct 2016: We need a joined-up approach to mental illness | 04 Oct 2016: We need a joined-up approach to mental illness |
| 19 Dec 2016: The poor must not be left to pick up the tab for social care | 19 Dec 2016: The poor must not be left to pick up the tab for social care |
| 09 Jan 2017: How a design for city living went wrong | 09 Jan 2017: How a design for city living went wrong |
| 25 Jan 2017: Children, poverty and difficulties of adoption | 25 Jan 2017: Children, poverty and difficulties of adoption |
| 30 Jan 2017: Many do not want a fair society, it seems | 30 Jan 2017: Many do not want a fair society, it seems |
| 07 Feb 2017: Solutions to the housing crisis are needed now | 07 Feb 2017: Solutions to the housing crisis are needed now |
| 13 Feb 2017: No simple solutions to England’s housing troubles | 13 Feb 2017: No simple solutions to England’s housing troubles |
| 10 Mar 2017: Hammond’s done little for tenants | 10 Mar 2017: Hammond’s done little for tenants |
| 20 Mar 2017: Mental health care of people in prison | 20 Mar 2017: Mental health care of people in prison |
| 05 Apr 2017: A positive case for collectively provided benefits | 05 Apr 2017: A positive case for collectively provided benefits |
| 10 Apr 2017: No bailiffs for the BBC | 10 Apr 2017: No bailiffs for the BBC |
| 17 May 2017: Theresa May’s claim to be the champion of workers rings hollow | 17 May 2017: Theresa May’s claim to be the champion of workers rings hollow |
| 23 May 2017: Strong, stable, achieving children: a slogan to stand behind | 23 May 2017: Strong, stable, achieving children: a slogan to stand behind |
| 03 Jun 2017: There’s a strong case for a land value tax | 03 Jun 2017: There’s a strong case for a land value tax |
| 19 Jun 2017: Queen’s speech must push housing reform | 19 Jun 2017: Queen’s speech must push housing reform |
| 26 Jun 2017: UK’s social housing system has failed its citizens | 26 Jun 2017: UK’s social housing system has failed its citizens |
| 12 Jul 2017: Stop making poor people mentally ill | 12 Jul 2017: Stop making poor people mentally ill |
| 04 Aug 2017: Grenfell and the inhumanity of UK housing policy | 04 Aug 2017: Grenfell and the inhumanity of UK housing policy |
| 09 Aug 2017: The country’s young suffer as austerity continues to take its toll | 09 Aug 2017: The country’s young suffer as austerity continues to take its toll |
| 02 Sep 2017: Poverty is at the heart of mental health crisis | 02 Sep 2017: Poverty is at the heart of mental health crisis |
| 16 Sep 2017: Rees-Mogg, food banks and the role of the state | 16 Sep 2017: Rees-Mogg, food banks and the role of the state |
| 22 Sep 2017: Debt crisis and the onward march of neoliberalism | 22 Sep 2017: Debt crisis and the onward march of neoliberalism |
| 29 Sep 2017: Labour and getting to grips with the housing crisis | 29 Sep 2017: Labour and getting to grips with the housing crisis |
| 21 Nov 2017: This budget could be Fiscal Phil’s big opportunity | 21 Nov 2017: This budget could be Fiscal Phil’s big opportunity |
| 24 Nov 2017: Budget decisions that are urgent matters of life and death | 24 Nov 2017: Budget decisions that are urgent matters of life and death |
| 28 Nov 2017: Universal credit is no answer to growing poverty | 28 Nov 2017: Universal credit is no answer to growing poverty |
| 09 Dec 2017: ‘It’s just one thing on top of another’ | 09 Dec 2017: ‘It’s just one thing on top of another’ |
| 09 Jan 2018: If you’re going to fall sick, do it in Walford | 09 Jan 2018: If you’re going to fall sick, do it in Walford |
| 30 Jan 2018: How to end speculation and squalor in housing | 30 Jan 2018: How to end speculation and squalor in housing |
| 06 Feb 2018: The irony of getting back land the state gave away | 06 Feb 2018: The irony of getting back land the state gave away |
| 07 Mar 2018: Developing a new way of creating more homes | 07 Mar 2018: Developing a new way of creating more homes |
| 15 Mar 2018: Hammond misses a chance to tackle social injustice | 15 Mar 2018: Hammond misses a chance to tackle social injustice |
| 20 Mar 2018: Homelessness link with Tory policies | 20 Mar 2018: Homelessness link with Tory policies |
| 11 Apr 2018: Reduce crime by giving hope to young people | 11 Apr 2018: Reduce crime by giving hope to young people |
| 14 Apr 2018: Social enterprises and failures of Friedmanism | 14 Apr 2018: Social enterprises and failures of Friedmanism |
| 17 Apr 2018: Housing policy and the big shrink | 17 Apr 2018: Housing policy and the big shrink |
| 30 Apr 2018: Local elections can give Labour a platform for government | 30 Apr 2018: Local elections can give Labour a platform for government |
| 14 Aug 2018: Austerity, outsourcing and councils in crisis | 14 Aug 2018: Austerity, outsourcing and councils in crisis |
| 04 Sep 2018: Don’t be distracted from big issues | 04 Sep 2018: Don’t be distracted from big issues |
| 10 Sep 2018: How party democracy can work | 10 Sep 2018: How party democracy can work |
| 22 Sep 2018: To end poverty we must do more than just move the goalposts | 22 Sep 2018: To end poverty we must do more than just move the goalposts |
| 02 Oct 2018: Having a working-class job is not evidence of personal failure | 02 Oct 2018: Having a working-class job is not evidence of personal failure |
| 09 Oct 2018: Almost impossible to get fair Pip assessment | 09 Oct 2018: Almost impossible to get fair Pip assessment |
| 12 Nov 2018: Failure to get to grips with housing crisis | 12 Nov 2018: Failure to get to grips with housing crisis |
| 16 Nov 2018: Rage against the cruelty of so-called austerity | 16 Nov 2018: Rage against the cruelty of so-called austerity |
| 20 Nov 2018: Angered by the damage austerity does the poor | 20 Nov 2018: Angered by the damage austerity does the poor |
| 26 Dec 2018: How the welfare state is failing the vulnerable | 26 Dec 2018: How the welfare state is failing the vulnerable |
| 11 Jan 2019: The misery, despair and pain of universal credit | 11 Jan 2019: The misery, despair and pain of universal credit |
| 28 Feb 2019: Housing and food poverty in the UK | 28 Feb 2019: Housing and food poverty in the UK |
| 11 Mar 2019: Knife crime calls for cohesion and education | 11 Mar 2019: Knife crime calls for cohesion and education |
| 11 Apr 2019: Reasons to stay hopeful amid the Brexit gloom | 11 Apr 2019: Reasons to stay hopeful amid the Brexit gloom |
| 19 Apr 2019: Section 21 and why landlords will still hold all the keys in housing | 19 Apr 2019: Section 21 and why landlords will still hold all the keys in housing |
| 22 Apr 2019: Broken land ownership system fuels inequality | 22 Apr 2019: Broken land ownership system fuels inequality |
| 17 May 2019: Why we are troubled by elitist inequality review | 17 May 2019: Why we are troubled by elitist inequality review |
| 18 May 2019: Universal credit spin at odds with reality | 18 May 2019: Universal credit spin at odds with reality |
| 23 May 2019: So many reports on inequality – now act | 23 May 2019: So many reports on inequality – now act |
| 10 Jun 2019: Fresh land laws are key to ending inequality | 10 Jun 2019: Fresh land laws are key to ending inequality |
| 02 Aug 2019: Two-child benefits limit hurts the poor | 02 Aug 2019: Two-child benefits limit hurts the poor |
| 05 August 2019: It pays developers not to build homes | 05 August 2019: It pays developers not to build homes |
| 09 August 2019: Me, the church and its property portfolio | 09 August 2019: Me, the church and its property portfolio |
| 22 August 2019: Every child should have a secure home | 22 August 2019: Every child should have a secure home |
| 5 October 2019: Homelessness crisis is a result of years of neglect | 5 October 2019: Homelessness crisis is a result of years of neglect |
| 10 October 2019: Housing market that makes losers of us all | 10 October 2019: Housing market that makes losers of us all |
| 16 October 2019: Lack of compassion in Queen’s speech | 16 October 2019: Lack of compassion in Queen’s speech |
| 2 November 2019: Great council housing of the past and the future | 2 November 2019: Great council housing of the past and the future |
| 6 November 2019: New government must invest in truly affordable council homes | 6 November 2019: New government must invest in truly affordable council homes |
| 25 November 2019: It’s hard to build our way out of the housing crisis | 25 November 2019: It’s hard to build our way out of the housing crisis |
| 23 December 2019: Queen’s speech: disability pledge and renters’ bill | 23 December 2019: Queen’s speech: disability pledge and renters’ bill |
| 28 December 2019: Religious traditions and our common humanity | 28 December 2019: Religious traditions and our common humanity |
| 25 February 2020: The acute social housing crisis and what Scotland can teach us | 25 February 2020: The acute social housing crisis and what Scotland can teach us |
| Suzanne Moore got everything else right about the housing crisis but left out land (I’m on the housing ladder but I can’t cheer the rising prices, Journal, 22 February). Throughout the UK, truly affordable council housing was built on public land. The price of borrowing to build and maintain council estates and their communities was recovered over, say, 50 years by low earners paying low rents, which did not include the ever-increasing value of land. Councils are now using the high value of public land to finance developers to demolish council estates and build private housing, which council tenants cannot afford. Hence the 79% increase in homeless families in England to 86,000, including 127,000 children since 2010, some for up to and over 10 years, 1.1 million households on council waiting lists and 4,700 single adults sleeping rough each night. | Suzanne Moore got everything else right about the housing crisis but left out land (I’m on the housing ladder but I can’t cheer the rising prices, Journal, 22 February). Throughout the UK, truly affordable council housing was built on public land. The price of borrowing to build and maintain council estates and their communities was recovered over, say, 50 years by low earners paying low rents, which did not include the ever-increasing value of land. Councils are now using the high value of public land to finance developers to demolish council estates and build private housing, which council tenants cannot afford. Hence the 79% increase in homeless families in England to 86,000, including 127,000 children since 2010, some for up to and over 10 years, 1.1 million households on council waiting lists and 4,700 single adults sleeping rough each night. |
| The New Economics Foundation recently reported that the government sold enough public land for developers to build 131,000 homes, but only 2.6% will be for social rent. There is an urgent need for legislation that forbids the sale of public land and requires it to be used for affordable social housing.Rev Paul NicolsonTaxpayers Against Poverty | The New Economics Foundation recently reported that the government sold enough public land for developers to build 131,000 homes, but only 2.6% will be for social rent. There is an urgent need for legislation that forbids the sale of public land and requires it to be used for affordable social housing.Rev Paul NicolsonTaxpayers Against Poverty |