When I was young, my father often used to repeat a saying his mother had told him, “To whom much is given, of them much is expected.” It was long time before I realised that this early version of “check out your privilege” was in fact quoting Jesus in the Bible (Luke 12:48), but I have never forgotten it, and I always try to live by it.
When I was young, my father often used to repeat a saying his mother had told him, “To whom much is given, of them much is expected.” It was long time before I realised that this early version of “check out your privilege” was in fact quoting Jesus in the Bible (Luke 12:48), but I have never forgotten it, and I always try to live by it.
I was reflecting on that saying when out running this week, because for me, it encompasses the spirit of the founders of the welfare state. The post-war politicians knew only too well that a civilised society requires a robust system to support to people in need, and they responded accordingly. Sadly, the majority of today’s MPs appear to have forgotten this message. The Liberal Democrats were only to keen to side with The Conservative Party to pass the Welfare Reform Act 2012, and the Labour Party has done little to oppose it.
Welfare should be something we support as a nation, if not to be compassionate to others, out of self interest. After all, we could all become disabled, or sick or lose our jobs one day, and find ourselves in need of a helping hand. Yet thanks to the ideology of successive governments, the prevalent belief is that spending is out of control; the country is full of benefit cheats and the majority of people claiming disability benefits could be working. Time and time again these myths are busted, and yet welfare has become a poisonous word.
As a result, a system that should be supportive and enabling has become punitive and harmful. From the disasters of the work capability assessment to the harsh sanctions applied to job seekers, the people who most need help are being pushed into penury. This is resulting in great hardship, including negative impacts for people with health problems a rise in homelessness and in the use of food banks.
As a Christian think tank, Ekklesia is committed to “new ways of thinking” that are rooted in the message of the gospels. As a result, we have been analysing, critiquing and posing alternatives to current UK welfare policy since 2009, often collaborating with those most affected. In 2012, we co-published the Spartacus Report “Responsible Reform” that challenged the government’s proposed Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reforms. Earlier this year, we co-published another report by disabled people here, marked ‘run’. Alternatively please send a donation to the Ekklesia office, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8EP making it clear that your donation is in support of my run. You can follow my progress on @run_ekklesia and see previous blogs here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/blogs/virginiamoffat .
Next week’s focus will be Iraq, Syria and the importance of Remembrance.
———–
© Virginia Moffatt is chief operating officer of Ekklesia. Her blogs can be found here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/blogs/virginiamoffat