TAX ought to be considered a blessing and never a burden, however the system because it stands is unfair, leaders and representatives of churches and Christian organisations from across the UK have told Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat leaders.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams is amongst ten bishops who signed an open letter, “Faith in Fairer Taxes”, on Tuesday, which calls on them to assist shift the narrative on tax and work towards reforming the system to offer everyone a fair proportion.
“As Christians, we’re called to ‘seek the welfare of town’, the society where God has put us,” the letter says. “We due to this fact see your role as elected leaders as searching for the welfare of the nation where you’ve been elected.”
Initiated by the JustMoney Movement, it points out that the richest ten per cent of individuals pay 34 per cent of their income in taxes, however the poorest ten per cent pay 42 per cent of theirs. Council tax is regressive, and the wealthiest can avoid payment by utilizing “tax havens”, the letter says, passing on assets through family trusts or using built-in exemptions.
“We consider a good tax system is a crucial a part of searching for the welfare of contemporary society — so that everybody has their ‘each day bread’; where we love our neighbours and take care of the created world,” they are saying. They make reference to a JustMoney poll of 1000 people, which found that health and social care, education, and environmental protection were the highest three things the respondents were thankful their taxes paid for.
Signatories include the Moderator of the Free Churches Group, the Revd Helen Cameron; the director of Christian Climate Action, Holly-Anna Petersen; and the General Secretary of Churches Together in England, Bishop Mike Royal.
Fairer taxes would “get us closer to the type of just, compassionate society we see within the biblical Jubilee and in Jesus’s Kingdom values”, the director of JustMoney, Sarah Edwards, said.
Lord Williams suggested: “It’s time to challenge the narrative about taxation as some kind of irrational imposition by distant and greedy government, and connect again with our basic responsibility for each other in society.
“But this could’t occur unless people trust the system to be each fair and effective. What we’re searching for is a grown-up discussion of all this — not uncritical, but not unrealistic or resentful, grounded within the biblical vision of our call to serve and protect each other as the inspiration of a durable and dependable social order.”
Child poverty is a critical election issue, and time is running out to take motion, a coalition of greater than 120 organisations warned all political parties yesterday.
They want them to make a commitment to removing the two-child limit to learn payments, and the profit cap. Action is much more urgent, they are saying, in the sunshine of a study from Loughborough University showing that in two-thirds (66.2 per cent) of recent constituencies, at the very least one quarter of the youngsters live in poverty.
The data shows a powerful correlation between constituencies with a high child poverty rate and the prevalence of the two-child limit. Joseph Howes, who chairs the End Child Poverty Coalition, said: “The data is undeniable. Too many children are on this cycle of deprivation that affects their health, education, and future prospects.
“It is time to dismantle these barriers. The elections will provide a critical platform for committing to systemic changes to uplift families and provides every child the chance to thrive.”
The Children’s Societ’s CEO, Mark Russell, described the limit and the profit cap as having had a “catastrophic” effect. And the director of policy, rights, and advocacy on the Child Poverty Action Group, Sara Ogilvie, said: “Children’s well-being is the responsibility of each politician, and ought to be a policy priority of the following few weeks and beyond. . . No trajectory looks good while greater than 4 million children are in poverty.”
The north-east, at 88 per cent, is shown to have the very best proportion of constituencies where one quarter of the youngsters are in poverty; Middlesbrough and Thornaby East are essentially the most affected. High rates are also reported in London and the north-west.
Senior church leaders within the West Midlands have described the forthcoming election as a seminal moment for his or her region. In a press release also issued on Tuesday, and posted by the Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, they encourage each parliamentary candidate to make a commitment to working to erase systemic poverty.
“We note with great concern that Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Sandwell, and Walsall had the very best percentages of households living in food poverty within the UK in 2022,” the statement reads.
“Behind these statistics lie stories of poverty affecting hundreds of people, families and youngsters, limiting their life possibilities and negatively affecting their life- expectancy. We are thankful for the work of Church Action on Poverty, the Joint Public Issues Team, the JustMoney movement and all faith-based organizations which seek to alleviate the results of poverty and to lift people out of debt.
“We pray for a society that reflects the biblical values of justice and compassion, by which everyone can live life to the total. As leaders of Christian churches within the West Midlands, we encourage each parliamentary candidate to commit to constructing an immigration system that operates with compassion, justice, transparency and speed in its decision-making. We know that many asylum seekers are to be present in large centres of population across the West Midlands.”
An announcement from the Salvation Army on Tuesday said that, in partnership with Citizens UK, they might give a voice to the people queuing at its foodbanks, sleeping at its homeless shelters, or struggling to seek out work.
As an envoy for the Voter Registration Champion Scheme, it says that it has armed its front-line officers and staff with information and advice to encourage the people they serve — often essentially the most marginalised people locally — to register to vote.
The territorial co-ordinator for justice and reconciliation on the Salvation Army, Nick Coke, said: “Poverty sidelines and silences people, which is why we would like as many individuals as possible to give you the option to solid their vote and have their say. Many people don’t realise that you could register to vote even when you don’t have a set address; so we will probably be helping people get registered.
“The Salvation Army is politically neutral, but in addition to encouraging the people we support to vote, a lot of our officers will probably be talking to their local prospective candidates.
“Salvation Army officers are embedded in communities across the UK and see how need changes depending on the situation. From baby banks in Hastings to employment support in Edinburgh, we would like parliamentary candidates to grasp not only the degrees of need but in addition what works locally to assist people transform their lives.”
The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church has issued a comprehensive briefing on key issues identified as being at stake. They include poverty; asylum and refugees; environment and climate change; the economy; peace and conflict; and politics.
Along with a set of resources on each, they suggest questions that is likely to be raised with candidates. On the problem of poverty, for instance: “Do you agree with the principle of the Essentials Guarantee — that advantages ought to be set at a level high enough that families avoid destitution?” “Foodbank use has increased massively over the past decade — why do you think that that’s?” “What is your plan to tackle poverty within the UK over the long run?”
The Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference in England and Wales is specializing in criminal justice, domestic poverty, family life and taxation, education, the environment, diplomacy, human rights and peace-building, life issues, and migration.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, is asking RC voters to be energetic in engaging with politicians on these issues. “You need to know what your candidate will think and say in your behalf when that candidate gets into Parliament,” he told them.
“I would really like to recommend a theme for us all to take into consideration. How will we seek to construct a society by which families can flourish? That’s the bedrock.”
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) UK is looking for all candidates to support repealing anti-refugee laws, ending immigration detention, and lifting the ban on work for asylum-seekers.
The JRS’s director, Sarah Teather, said: “Over quite a few years, we’ve seen a shocking rise in hostility, scapegoating, and cruel policies targeting refugees and asylum-seekers, but so a lot of us want a distinct approach: one which welcomes women, men, and youngsters who come here searching for safety, treats them with dignity, and celebrates the gifts they convey.”
The JRS is looking for a system that “considers asylum claims fairly, ensures people have the legal support they should navigate the method, and treats everyone searching for sanctuary as human beings”.
Anti-refugee laws and policies, it says, include the “illegal Migration Act, which bans most refugees from claiming asylum; housing people in appalling settings like barges and disused military barracks; and plans to forcibly transfer people to Rwanda in addition to other plans to outsource asylum”.
