Thursday, 7th June 2007

Jim Murphy, Minister of State, Department of Work and Pensions, led a Fabian policy seminar marking the tenth anniversary of the New Deal, assessing Labour's achievements in the area of employment policy and setting out the next decade challenges still to be met.

"Child poverty has fallen faster in the UK over the last decade than in any other European nation. But we have much further to go before we eradicate child poverty for good," said Jim Murphy MP at a Fabian event.

"Yet there is still a public disconnection about poverty in this country. This could be for various reasons. Firstly, the image of poverty here is so very different to that of the developing world. Poverty is measured on in relative rather than absolute terms; and this affects the perception of what it means to be poor. Secondly, as it is concentrated in specific areas, it's not overtly visible to all, and as we look back ten years, it now seems unbelievable that as a nation we allowed child poverty to double during the previous Government. And thirdly, the language used to discuss disadvantage in the UK is very different to that used when we are discussing the poverty abroad. Over twenty years, the charity of Live Aid in 1985 has been replaced by the self-dignity of Live 8 in 2005. The focus has switched from charity to dignity. However, there hasn't been a similar change of vocabulary in the conversation about domestic poverty.

In March 1999, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor announced that we should aim to eradicate child poverty within a generation. This is one of the most ambitious social aims of any government across the developed world. We have reversed the trend we inherited and since this Government came to office - with 600,000 fewer children now being brought up in poverty compared to a decade ago.

But we have a long way to go if we are to achieve our ambitions. And if we are to retain electoral consent for confronting this enormous challenge we must reframe the debate.

When we speak about our determination to intervene to help the poorest, others perceive that we wish to place a cap on the aspirations of middle-class families. I often reflect upon my own personal experience. I grew up in one of Glasgow's poorest housing schemes and am now the MP for the most prosperous constituency in the whole of Scotland. These two places seem worlds apart. But in truth they are separated by just one street and a mile of open ground. For me the democracy of social justice question is captured by this personal experience. How can we continue to retain the permission of those who elect me to support those whom I grew up with?

In this context relying on traditional collective solidarity will not work. It is simply not enough if we are to secure continuing public consent for a progressive agenda. The international debate of poverty has moved on from the concept of charity, and so must we.

Poverty does not simply affect individuals and families themselves, but communities, society and the economy. It's in all our interests to tackle it head on. We need to develop a sense of progressive self-interest, backed by the philosophy that all of our lives will benefit when no-one has to grow up poor. Progressive self interest is about making the wider connection between personal aspiration and the continuing right of the State to enable collective solutions that meet those aspirations. It is also about re-energising the consent for Labour's values and policies.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to make a reality of eradicating child poverty for good. The economy is strong; employment rates are high and rising for the most disadvantaged in our society; and our public services are improving fastest in the poorest areas.

To make the most of this opportunity, we must see a combination of Government action, personal responsibility and get more people into sustained work. But as we look ahead, we could also do poverty differently within Government. We need structural recognition that tackling poverty is a cross-government agenda.

At the moment we rightly have a joined up approach to better regulation with a powerful cross Departmental Panel for Regulatory Accountability chaired by the Prime Minister. Every new Bill is forensically examined for its possible impact on public sector bureaucracy or new business burden. Additional burdens are compensated for by offsetting measures."

"I believe we should consider a similar challenge function across Government on child poverty; every policy and new Bill could be examined for its impact on poverty. It is not too much to suggest that we should co-ordinate policy on child poverty as effectively as we do on unnecessary paperwork."

The Minister was joined on a panel by David Coats of The Work Foundation, and Jeanette Faherty of Avanta.

Event report

This seminar was kindly supported by Avanta.