Forgotten Brits 'deserve better'

Wednesday, 8 April 2009 12:01 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

Charity Oxfam has issued a condemnatory assessment of the government's performance during the recession.

Its report out today, Close to Home, UK Poverty and the Economic Downturn, says ordinary Britons are being denied the bailout the government has offered the banks.

It says Brits are turning into 'Freds' - forgotten by those in power, ripped-off by taxes and the benefits system, excluded from opportunities and debt-ridden.

A YouGov poll commissioned by Oxfam finds public opinion has turned against the government.

Just four per cent said they thought ministers had done enough to help those who have lost their jobs.

Three-quarters said they or someone they knew had been adversely affected by the recession.

And 76 per cent said they thought job seekers' allowance was not enough to live on.

"Bold action needs to be taken by the government to prevent a major rise in poverty here in the UK," Oxfam's Antonia Bance commented.

"Now, more than ever, it can't be business as usual in the UK. The government must help people living below the poverty line as well as the growing number at risk of poverty in the Budget on April 22."

One-fifth of Britons live in poverty.

Tags:
• economy
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• economy and finance
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• recession