Labour Party Conference: Child poverty not a 'simple' problem
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The government should "blitz" child poverty targets by making changes to the tax system, the chief executive of Barnardo's has said.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference, Martin Narey called on thegovernment to redistribute tax credits and scrap the 10p tax ratecompensation package, which will cost the economy more than 2.5bna year.
By doing this the government should find it easier to meet its target ofhalving child poverty by 2010, he said.
But Kate Green, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, saidNarey's proposal to move money around by changing the tax system tosolve the problem was "profoundly misconceived". She also claimed itwould deter middle England from voting for Labour at the nextelection.
Home Office minister Liam Byrne said: "We have got to nail the pretencethat this is easy. The idea that child poverty is simple is afantasy."
In a rare appearance of an opposition politician at a Labour Partyconference, former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith also disputedNarey's claim that child poverty could be tackled so easily.
Duncan Smith, who now runs the Centre for Social Justice think tank,blamed high unemployment rates on a lack of aspiration in poorcommunities. "We have ghettoised the concept of deprivation," hesaid.
Dianne Hayter, former chief executive of the European ParliamentaryLabour Party, said politicians need to approach the issue creatively andinject aspiration into poor communities.
