children living in poverty

9.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Apr 2007

Dear Mr Khalid Mahmood MP,

I am sure that you will have recently seen new government figures revealing that the number of children living in poverty and the number of people of working age living in poverty have risen. In addition, the gap between rich and poor has grown further.

These figures are dreadful for the Government - with child poverty rising to almost a third of all UK children. Poverty in Britain is increasing again, and social mobility seems to have been falling. The Government's ambition to cut child poverty now looks in tatters - with Labour likely to miss its 2010 child poverty target by over 1 million children.

The overall poverty figures have also soared with higher poverty amongst children and poverty in people of working age jumping by over half a million. Since Labour was elected, Britain has become a more unequal place to live, as the Government's overall measure of inequality now shows.

It is now vital that there should be a re-assessment of child poverty policy, to see what more ought to be done to reduce poverty levels. It is clear that Gordon Brown's unhealthy and expensive concoction of complex tax credits and benefits is failing to help the millions of Britain's living in poverty.

I hope that you will encourage the government to commit to extra investment in education & childcare for the poorest children, a reduction in regressive taxes, better housing, more employment support and a more stable and effective benefits system only after the government commit to these aims, goals and targets will the goal of cutting child poverty become a reality.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Nazir Ahmed Teladia