Destroyed Russian armour and war debris in display in central Kyiv, May 2023. Photo: WCC

THE Center for Peace Theology at University of Hamburg, Germany, together with the Mennonite Congregation in Hamburg-Altona, has given the international Menno Simons Preaching Award to Riki Neufeld, pastor at the Evangelical Mennonite Congregation Schänzli in Muttenz (Switzerland).

The awarded sermon was originally delivered on 26 February 2023, one year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Mennonite Congregation Schänzli. The basis of the sermon is the ‘Victory Song’ of a woman from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): The Song of Deborah (Judges 5).

One of the oldest texts in the Bible, it is rarely preached upon. The sermon relates a biblical scenario to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, asking the question: Does God also need the help of courageous warriors and weapons here to bring about justice? “It is one of those texts that one prefers not to read in a peace church,” said Neufeld.

The sermon carries complex ideas about war, justice, and peace. “It addresses this element of feeling the satisfaction for the evildoer who is being held accountable”, said Neufeld. “At the same time, we realise that this is so much in conflict with the essence of pacifist faith in general – a faith based on Jesus’s character and way of life.”

The sermon addresses the question of how one brings those thoughts together. “I did not want to diminish that yearning for consequences, that yearning for deliverance”, explained Neufeld.

Unexpected gifts

Neufeld, born in 1984 in Asunción/Paraguay, has been a pastor for two years – with a focus on young adults – in the Evangelical Mennonite Congregation Schänzli in Muttenz/Switzerland. Gifted in multiple languages, he has taken on various educational tasks with the Mennonites in Switzerland since 2011 in addition to his voluntary activities for Mennonite World Conference.

The public award ceremony took place on 1 September following a service during which the award-winning sermon was heard.

Just before the ceremony, a sense of ecumenism worked behind the scenes in an unexpected way. The service was originally scheduled in the Mennonite Church Hamburg-Altona, but due to a scheduling miscommunication, an Ethiopian Orthodox congregation was having a service at the same time. Not wanting to interrupt that service, the organizers of the award went to a Lutheran church just across the street.

“There was no microphone so I just had to speak louder”, said Neufeld, who added: “There was definitely an ecumenical component at work there. Everyone took their hymnal over to the  Lutheran church, and we had to start only about 10 minutes later than scheduled!”

A second surprise happened before the ceremony: two weeks before the service, Neufeld’s 68-year-old mother surprised him by traveling all the way from Paraguay to visit and then to see the award presentation.

Professor Dr Fernando Enns introduced the sermon during the awards ceremony. “It is a sermon that aims precisely at these ambivalences and thus touches our hearts, reaching out to us without giving us cheap comfort or distracting us from the horrors of war”, he said. “No, it is steering us straight towards a war in Ukraine, which has unsettled us all for more than two years and has left us more questioning than answering, especially us as a ‘peace church.’ ”

As Neufeld delivered the sermon during the awards ceremony, he acknowledged how much time had passed. “Tragically, the war continues and these biblical words continue to bring to light striking parallels,” he said. “When reading these verses, I can’t help but think of the questions that have particularly plagued and preoccupied politics and society in these last few years.”

A central part of Neufeld’s sermon is the unjustified war of aggression by Russia on Ukraine. “We hear requests from Ukraine for support, especially in the form of arms deliveries,” he said. “If we needed a Bible text that could legitimise and even compel us to support Ukraine with all forms of military force, then we would find it in these verses from the Song of Deborah.”

Yet the main point of the sermon hinges around “a second look at the enemy”, explained Neufeld, or “a second seeing”, as scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann describes.

Deeply inspired by Bruegemann, Neufeld’s sermon describes how the church is called to acknowledge the first seeing of the enemy as a natural and maybe also Important part – but the deeper calling is to foster a “second seeing in this world” which makes the effort of humanising the enemy.

“It’s about seeing every person who is frustrating in our lives – even every enemy – as the son and daughter of a mother who is waiting for their safe return”, said Neufeld.

* The international Menno Simons Preaching Award aims to encourage and honour sermons that express the biblical testimony in the light of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The sermons also encourage engagement with current public issues – beyond denominational boundaries.

* Source: World Council of Churches

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LAUDATO SI’ ANIMATORS, who are trained by the Laudato Si’ Movement to promote Pope Francis’ message about care for the Earth as our common home, and who come from all parts of the United Kingdom, have in this Season of Creation written an open letter to the Prime Minister and to two government ministers, Steve Reed and Ed Milliband.

They are asking for five specific commitments:
* Introduce the Climate and Nature Bill
* Transition from animal agriculture to organic, arable agriculture
* Sign the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT)
* Support rewilding and the Rewilding Britain Manifesto
* Ensure businesses pay for their pollution, and transition to non-polluting practices and products

In the letter, they decare: “A priority should be the Climate and Nature Bill which is science-based and is winning more and more supporters.  In June we joined 60,000 marchers from 350 organisations for the Restore Nature Now Rally. This bill would address many issues of concern e.g. reducing greenhouse gases, ending fossil fuel extraction, restoring ecosystems.

 “We believe that climate change is now such a threat to humanity that it should not be the subject of policies of individual political parties, but that all the parties should work together to find solutions to the problem for the common good and for the sake of our children’s children.”

* Source: Laudato Si’ Movement

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A NEW REPORT from the Resolution Foundation, The Living Standards Outlook 2024, analyses what could happen to incomes and poverty over the course of this Parliament.

The report says that while the living standards outlook for middle-income households is weak, it is even worse for poorer households, who are set to gain less from wage rises, and will lose more should benefit cuts currently assumed in the fiscal forecasts be rolled out over the Parliament.

The combination of current forecasts and inherited policies result in a projected income fall for poor working-age households in the bottom tenth of the income distribution of around £600 a year between 2023-24 and 2029-30. The number of children living in relative poverty is projected to rise by 400,000 to reach 4.6 million by the end of the decade.

This projected rise in child poverty is driven by the continued rollout of the two-child limit, the freezing of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), and the value of benefits continuing to fall relative to wages.

The Foundation says that these forecasts are bleak, but are not set in stone, and the report sets out three plausible scenarios in which the outlook for incomes and poverty can be greatly improved.

First, real annual wage growth being one percentage point higher from 2025-26 onwards would boost typical income growth for non-pensioner households from five per cent over the Parliament to a respectable eight per cent. The transformative impact of higher earnings growth highlights the need to deliver stronger productivity-based economic growth, says the Foundation.

Second, removing the two-child limit, benefit cap and LHA freeze from 2025 onwards, at a total cost of around £3.5 billion (in 2025-26, but rising over the Parliament), would lift 600,000 children out of poverty overnight. The Foundation cautions however that while these policy reversals would be hugely welcome, after the initial drop relative poverty rates would be on track to rise again.

To prevent this, the report sets out a third scenario, in which working-age benefits are uprated annually by wages rather than prices from 2025. This additional policy, costing around £9 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, would stabilise child poverty rates at a lower level than in the previous Parliament, if combined with the policy changes outlined in scenario two.

Alex Clegg, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain is currently experiencing a mini living standards recovery as inflation falls but wage rises remain high. But this isn’t set to last, with the majority of income growth projected over the Parliament coming in this year alone. After that, wage rises are forecast to weaken and be overtaken by rent and mortgage cost increases.

“And while the outlook for middle-income households is weak, it’s even worse for poor households, with 400,000 children at risk of falling below the poverty line.

“This troubling outlook highlights the need for the new Government to beat the forecasts that they have inherited. A new economic strategy that delivers stronger growth, coupled with the reversal of damaging benefit policies set by the previous Government, could still make this a Parliament of fast-rising living standards and falling poverty.”

* Read: The Living Standards Outlook 2024 here.

* Source: The Resolution Foundation

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ALMOST two thirds of flights (64 per cent) from London City Airport in 2019 could have been completed in one or two train journeys, analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and environmental charity Possible has found.

As the Labour government approved the expansion of the airport’s capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers per year, analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data revealed how expansion will worsen the airport’s environmental and social impacts, while only benefitting wealthier frequent flyers.

The latest report from the UK’s government’s own Climate Change Committee (CCC) explicitly warned there should be no net expansion of UK airports.

New analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data, by NEF revealed:

• Almost two thirds (64 per cent) of flights from London City in 2019 could have been completed in a maximum of two train journeys. This suggests almost 900,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions were linked to flights departing and arriving on these routes.
• An estimated 43 per cent of seats were occupied by passengers who flew at least once every two months – meaning they made six or more return trips per year.
• The median household income of leisure passengers at the airport was around 34 per cent higher than the average UK air passenger.

Dr Alex Chapman, Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation said: “The new government is keen to cut planning red tape and get the country building but not all proposals are made equal. New developments can’t come at the expense of the climate or low-income communities.

“Our analysis shows that expansion will not only make it harder for the UK to meet its climate commitments, but it will also offer little to no economic benefit, all while damaging the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people who live nearby.”

Recent NEF analysis showed that business use of air travel had collapsed since the pandemic, and the numbers are well below their historic peak in 2006. Now, London City airport is trying to move further into the leisure travel market. But NEF research suggests only an increase in passengers travelling for business drives up economic indicators such as GDP, because any gain from tourism is offset through spending losses of outgoing tourists.

The new analysis shows that in 2022, for every two tourists that came into London through City airport, three departed,

London City airport applied to add an additional 2.5 million passengers per year to its capacity through a removal of the current restriction on flights taking-off on Saturday afternoons, and to increase the number of flights departing before 7am on weekdays.

Reacting on social media to the government’s decision, the New Economics Foundation commented: “The government’s decision today will result in millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, immediately wiping out the progress the new government made in its early decisions on renewable energy.

“This decision puts the interests of a small number of wealthy frequent flyers over the wellbeing of us all. London City Airport operates low-efficiency planes, on routes doable by train, for high-income passengers. The government is defending its decision by pointing to supposed economic benefits from the expansion. But these are little more than industry propaganda, reached by ignoring emerging trends and casting aside best practice impact assessment.”

* Read the Climate Change Committee’s 2024 Progress Report to Parliament here.

* Read the full analysis of the Civil Aviation Authority data here.

* Source: New Economics Foundation

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A highlight of this year’s Promenade Concerts season will be a performance on Saturday 17 August of the War Requiem, a large-scale work by Benjamin Britten.

Britten, a pacifist and conscientious objector, wrote the War Requiem as his artistic response to the horrors of war, and as a reflection of his anti-war beliefs. The Royal Albert Hall’s website says: “Never has this tense, angry and cautiously optimistic work seemed more relevant since its first performance 62 years ago.”

The Peace Pledge Union – the UK’s primary pacifist organisation, of which Britten was a prominent member for decades – booked an advertisement in the concert programme several weeks ago, highlighting how Britten’s philosophy continued to resonate with many people to this day.

Now however, the producers of the programme have told the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) that the BBC has overruled the acceptance of the PPU advert, which is being pulled from the programme before it goes to press.

The advertisement was in no way polemical, says the PPU. It was a measured statement by an organisation with which Britten himself was involved. It pointed out that Britten’s worldview is more than just historical, and the perspectives conveyed by his music still inspire people today.

Against a background of a photograph of the memorial to Conscientious Objectors in Tavistick Square, London, the text of the advertisement reads:

Britten’s War Requiem is a profound ecpression of his personal renunciation of war.
His art and his life, as with many great creative artists, were not separate.
The pronciples which led Britten to compose the War Requiem also led him to become a committed meber of the Peace Pledge Union for decades, until the end of his life.

The belief that warfare is never the answer, and that better ways of dealing with conflict can and must be found, are not just part of our political and musical history. The ideas that inspired Britten continue to inspire people today – including the thousands of current members of the Peace Pledge Union and its sister organisations around the world.

Albert Beale of the PPU said: “It’s hard to reconcile the BBC’s willingness to promote a profoundly political piece of musical culture – such as the War Requiem – whilst refusing to allow an organisation with which the composer was closely associated to refer to the reality of its timeless message.”

“It’s ironic that for the media, peace seems these days to be more controversial than war. Can it really be that violence is non-political, but peace is political?”

* More information on Britten’s pacifist philosophy, connection to the PPU, and motivations for developing the War Requiem here.

* Source: Peace Pledge Union

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A CATASTROPHIC inspection of HMP Wandsworth in May led Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons to write to the then Secretary of State invoking an Urgent Notification for improvement.

The full report from that inspection, now released, details the extent of the problems which led to this action, noting that Wandsworth has come to be “symbolic of the problems that characterise what is worst about the English prison system”.

Wandsworth was not safe: there had been 10 self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection, seven of which had occurred in the last 12 months. The rate of self-harm was high and rising, and yet around 40 per cent of emergency cell bells were not answered within five minutes. Staff were oblivious to a prisoner in crisis who had self-harmed in his cell until inspectors brought it to their attention. Overall rates of violence, including serious assaults, had increased and use of force was now higher than most other reception jails. More than half of men said it was easy to get drugs and the smell of cannabis was ubiquitous. Drug testing had been suspended, but the most recent tests found 44% of prisoners were actively using drugs.

Since the alleged escape in 2023, HMPPS had invested almost £900,000 in additional resources in safety and security. Despite this, and the threat to stability posed by illicit drug use, leaders had not got the basics of security right including an inability to account for prisoners during the working day. An action plan created after the last escape in 2019 had not been completed and key elements of the jail’s security strategy had not been reviewed in ten years.

Wandsworth was severely overcrowded with 80 per cent of men sharing cells designed to hold one person. Living conditions were very poor with damaged flooring and furniture, broken windows and leaking fixtures being common. Many cells had no screening around the toilet, despite holding two men. At the time of the inspection, the prison had over 900 outstanding jobs in its facilities log, reflecting the scale of the challenge. The prison was dirty with persistent vermin problems and inspectors found rodent faeces and urine across residential units.

Around three quarters of men reported spending more than 22 hours a day in their cells in these appalling conditions. Inspectors carrying out two random roll checks were unable to verify this because record keeping was so poor, with staff unable to account for where prisoners on their wings were. Access to education, work and skills was very poor with most prisoners unemployed. While the library could have provided some respite from this, less than a tenth of planned library sessions in the three months preceding the inspection had taken place.

Inexperience across every grade of operational staff was preventing them from bringing about much needed change. Most leaders were temporarily promoted, and new staff were learning from inexperienced frontline managers. The working culture was not supportive and senior leaders were not visible around the jail. Despite a full complement of officers, sickness, restricted duties, and training commitments meant that over a third could not be deployed to operational duties each day; this led to curtailed regimes, cross-deployment, and burnt-out staff.

Staffing shortfalls underpinned a myriad of challenges in daily life. For example, it took weeks for new arrivals to have telephone numbers approved so they could speak to their families. Prison officer absences also resulted in prisoners being unable to access healthcare services, resulting in important health assessment and treatment interventions being curtailed. The costly new health centre that was supposed to open in the summer of 2022 was still unused.

The offender management unit (OMU) was particularly short-staffed and the amount of one-to-one work which both probation- and prison-employed POMs were carrying out with their prisoners was minimal. Public protection procedures to safeguard children and protect other potential victims had also deteriorated substantially since the last inspection. Perhaps unsurprisingly, only 35 per cent of men said that their experience at Wandsworth had made them less likely to reoffend in the future, a finding that was far worse than in similar prisons.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “The level of chaos we found at Wandsworth was deeply shocking. The prison population crisis has undoubtedly compounded the pressures on the jail, but the appalling conditions at Wandsworth did not appear overnight and are the result of sustained decline permitted to happen in plain view of leaders in the jail, HMPPS and the MoJ whose own systems clearly identified the prison as struggling.

“There was a degree of despondency amongst prisoners at Wandsworth that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector. Many well-meaning and hard-working leaders and staff persevered at Wandsworth, but they were often fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions. This will not be a quick fix. For this troubled prison to begin to recover, Wandsworth needs permanent experienced leaders at all levels who are invested in the long-term future of the prison to improve security, safety and guide their less experienced colleagues. We will be watching closely to see whether this is the case.”

Commenting on the report, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Wandsworth is emblematic of a system that has been running on fumes for many years, through our overuse of prison and chronic underinvestment in the prisons estate. Too many of our local inner-city prisons are afflicted with similar problems, including too few staff, and prisoners held in overcrowded and squalid conditions which are contributing to very high rates of violence, self-harm and self-inflicted death.

“Most worryingly, the government has inherited a prison system which is rapidly running out of effective options to respond. Previously, the first thing a prisons minister would consider was to rapidly decant a large number of people from the prison to give staff much needed breathing space to address concerns. But with prisons in the midst of a capacity crisis; a huge courts backlog; and an anticipated influx of far-right rioters, there is simply no give in the system to do this. These will be deeply worrying times for those who live and work in our prisons.”

* The Wandsworth inspection report and the Urgent Notification are available to read here.

* Sources: HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Prison Reform Trust

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FOLLOWING the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Archbishop of Canterbury has urged governments around the world to reverse the “deeply damaging trend” of upholding international law “in a selective manner”.

Archbishop Justin Welby says the State of Israel has been “denying the Palestinian people dignity, freedom and hope” – and that ending its occupation of Palestinian territory is “a legal and moral necessity”.

The Archbishop’s statement, issued on 2 August, follows the ICJ’s ruling that Israel’s presence in all occupied Palestinian territory including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, is unlawful, and must not be supported by third party states.

The Archbishop’s statement in full:

The Advisory Opinion by the International Court of Justice (19 July 2024) makes definitively clear that Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is unlawful and needs to end as rapidly as possible.

At a time when the world is marked by increasing violations of international law – and commitment to a rules-based system is in question – it is imperative that governments around the world reaffirm their unwavering commitment to all decisions by the International Court of Justice, irrespective of the situation. International law protects our shared humanity, and safeguards human dignity and flourishing. To resist a world where actions such as torture, hostage-taking and indiscriminate violence become the norm, we must apply the law without fear or favour in all circumstances. But for too long it has been applied and upheld in a selective manner that threatens our common peace and security. Now is the time to reverse that deeply damaging trend.

Having visited our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters many times over recent decades, it is clear to me that the regime imposed by successive Israeli governments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is one of systemic discrimination. Through annexing Palestinian land for illegal settlements, depriving Palestinians access to their own natural resources, and imposing a system of military rule that denies them safety and justice, the State of Israel has been denying the Palestinian people dignity, freedom and hope. I am particularly aware of how this is impacting Palestinian Christians, threatening their future and viability. It is clear that ending the occupation is a legal and moral necessity.

I pray that all UN member states respond positively to this Advisory Opinion by ensuring their individual and common actions are consistent with it – and pave the way for the realisation of the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to self-determination.

Also commenting on the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, a panel of United Nations experts on human rights called for an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, including asset freezes, on Israeli individuals and entities involved in illegal occupation and racial segregation and apartheid policies.

They added: “The Court’s findings should also be widely disseminated to ensure that the illegality of Israel’s presence in the occupied territory is fully understood at all levels of the government and reflected in public documents and education systems.”

“Laws and policies that penalise opposition to or impede advocacy against Israel’s occupation and apartheid must be rescinded.”

* Read the full statement by UN experts here.

* Sources: The Archbishop of Canterbury and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 

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CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves made a statment to the House of Commons on 29 July, in which she pledged to “restore economic stability” and said she would take “difficult decisions” to find £5.5 billion of savings this year, and £8.1 billion next year.

The Chancellor also said a set of non-negotiable fiscal rules will be confirmed at the Budget on 30 October, alongside further decisions on tax and spending.

Responding to Rachel Reeves’ statement, Fran Boait, co-executive director of Positive Money, said: “To see the Chancellor echoing the same economically illiterate rhetoric as the last government to justify further spending cuts is exasperating.

“It’s high time politicians got this straight: the government budget is categorically not like a household budget. The government has the power to increase its own revenue, and it can borrow at far better rates than households, with far different repayment expectations, too.

“As well as better borrowing, there are also a range of wealth taxes the Chancellor could deploy to bring in billions without harming household finances. Or better yet, instead of just blaming the state of the economy inherited from the last government, Reeves could talk about the arbitrary fiscal rules Labour has inherited from them, and have the courage to change these, freeing up billions for public spending in the process.”

Hannah Peaker, director of policy at the New Economics Foundation said: “Rachel Reeves said the country voted for change but her statement today reaffirmed a commitment to the out-dated fiscal rules and veiled austerity measures that have left our public services in dire straits. While a pay rise for public sector workers is welcome news, the government needs to go much further with investing in public services to ensure that our children can learn in schools which are not falling down and our loved ones are able to get an operation without spending years on a waiting list.

“The chancellor claims we can’t afford investment but there was also no mention of raising taxes on the richest who can most shoulder the cost. This would be a simple way for the government to protect the services we all rely on. Ensuring that taxation of income from wealth – such as dividends and capital gains – are taxed at the same rate as earnings from work, could raise at least £10-15 billion a year.

“This government needs to go much further as well and address the self-imposed fiscal rules which are holding back the serious levels of investment we need just to maintain our key services. They should be investing with ambitions to ensure everyone has access to good healthcare, education, childcare, affordable housing and cheap, clean energy – this is how we build a strong economy for the future.”

* Read the Chancellor’s full statement here.

* Source: Positive Money and New Economics Foundation

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RATES of self-harm and assaults are soaring in prisons, reveals the latest statistical bulletin published by the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons recorded 73,804 incidents of self-harm in the 12 months to the end of March 2024, at a rate of one every seven minutes. In the most recent quarter, the rate of self-harm was up two per cent in male establishments and 29 per cent in female establishments.

Over the same period, prisons recorded 28,292 assaults – a 19 per cent rise on the figures for the previous 12 months. This included an 18 per cent increase on serious assaults and a 24 per cent rise in assaults on staff.

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “These shocking statistics tell us why the new government was absolutely right to take steps to ease pressure on the prison population, and why further action will be needed to change prisons for the better.

“Much of the focus of policy has been on the crisis of prison capacity, with the number of available cells at the foremost of people’s minds. These figures remind us that there is a crisis of human misery behind bars too. Exposing people to environments of rising violence and mental distress will do nothing to turn their lives around and away from crime. This is exactly why the Prime Minister was correct to describe the prison system as ‘broken’.

“We can do much better than this. The Howard League has published a range of possible solutions for ministers to consider and we stand ready to help the government in its prison reform agenda.”

Women in Prison highlighted the alarmingly high number of women self-harming, at 341 per 1000 women in prison. This self-harm rate is more than eight times higher in women’s prisons than in men’s prisons.

Sonya Ruparel, CEO of Women in Prison, said: “Seriously unwell women are being sent to prison when in fact they need medical or psychiatric support. Far from being a place of safety, prisons are re-traumatising women and even creating mental health problems where they didn’t exist before.

“Our frontline staff have worked with women who developed PTSD in prison, suicidal ideation, and in one case a woman was recalled to prison from a psychiatric ward while pregnant. In too many cases, women are criminalised because they are survivors of abuse, and experience mental ill-health and poverty.

“Rather than punishing women for their experiences, we need to prioritise prevention and ensure they have access to the support they need in their communities.”

* Read: Grasping the nettle: Options for a lasting solution to the prison capacity crisis from the Howard League for Penal Reform here.

* Read The Answer Is Not Prison from Women in Prison here.

* Read: Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales: Deaths in Prison Custody to June 2024 Assaults and Self-harm to March 2024 here.

* Sources: Howard League for Penal Reform  and Women in Prison

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SECTION 1 of The Equality Act 2010 introduced a socio-economic duty on public bodies, requiring them to make decisions, “in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.” After the 2010 election, the Cameron government decided not to bring the socio-economic duty into force.

As part of the ‘1ForEquality’ campaign, a number of organisations, including the Equality Trust, Shelter, and the Royal College of Physicians, have written an open letter to the Prime Minister, calling on the new government to fulfil its manifesto committments and enact the socio-economic duty as one of its first acts in government.

The open letter, dated 15 July, reads as follows:

Dear Prime Minister,

We would firstly like to congratulate you on your election victory and hope that we can build a constructive working relationship with you and your cabinet colleagues during your time in government.

We are writing to you on behalf of the 1ForEquality campaign group. We are a coalition of nine organisations, who have come together with the stated aim of urging the UK Government to put in place the socio-economic duty (SED) by commencing Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. Earlier this year we met with your cabinet colleague, Anneliese Dodds, to discuss what meaningful implementation of the duty should look like, and would like to reconfirm our offer to support you in your aim to deliver effective commencement of the SED.

The Labour Party designed the duty to alleviate inequality by placing a legal responsibility on public bodies to pay due regard to how they can reduce inequalities of outcome, caused by socio-economic disadvantage, when making strategic decisions.

We were delighted that the Labour Party committed to adopting the socio-economic duty in its manifesto under ‘breaking down barriers to opportunity’. We know that this is the fourth of your five missions to rebuild Britain.

We believe that it is paramount to include enactment of the SED in your upcoming King’s Speech as this will lay down an important marker that your government is fully committed to tackling socio-economic inequalities from day one.

We believe that, implemented effectively, the SED is an important tool for mitigating against the worst impacts of over a decade of austerity and has the potential to ensure that those already socioeconomically disadvantaged aren’t further disadvantaged by strategic decision making.

We would also like to set-up a meeting with you to discuss the SED and its implementation in further detail. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

The 1ForEquality Campaign Group

The campaign group includes; Amnesty International UK, Compassion in Politics, Equality Trust, Equally Ours, Just Fair, Resolve Poverty, Royal College of Physicians, Shelter, and Thrive Teesside.

In 2018 the Scottish Parliament enacted the Fairer Scotland Duty, which is the name given to the socio-economic duty in Scotland, and the Welsh Senned followed in 2021. A number of local councils in the UK have adopted some of the key policies of the socio-economic duty.

* More information on the 1ForEquality campaign here.

* Source: Equality Trust

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