Dear John,

Senior church and charity leaders call for urgent action on rising UK and world poverty

Today, senior Christian leaders - including the General Secretary of Churches Together in England, President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference and senior leaders of development agencies Christian Aid, CAFOD and Tearfund - have joined us in calling for urgent political action on poverty.

The joint statement is a clear demonstration of solidarity. The signatories state:

“We are united in our belief that the human cost of failing to take action now is too big and too damaging to ignore.”

Signatories are calling on political leaders to set out clear plans to eradicate extreme poverty and halve overall poverty by 2030, in the UK.

“We know that poverty is not inevitable – it’s a consequence of political choices and priorities.”

Stef Benstead, a trustee of Church Action on Poverty, said:

“According to the prophets, poverty occurred because there was injustice and a failure by the leaders of the country to enact policies that guaranteed a minimum living standard for everyone.”