皇冠体育app

It is sometimes said that the Church should not get involved in politics. I disagree. Many of the great political questions of our time are also moral questions 鈥� we should not be surprised, and nor should we be dismissive, when members of the clergy make their views known.

But neither should political leaders be afraid to respond. Last weekend on these pages [article featured in 皇冠体育app Telegraph], the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, offered a critique of this government鈥檚 welfare reforms. I respect his view but I also disagree with it deeply.

Archbishop Nichols essentially made 3 points. He suggested that our reforms were based primarily around saving money, that the safety net against hunger and destitution no longer exists, and that our reforms are not working.

Let me address each point in turn.

First, our long-term economic plan for Britain is not just about doing what we can afford, it is also about doing what is right. Nowhere is that more true than in welfare. For me the moral case for welfare reform is every bit as important as making the numbers add up: building a country where people aren鈥檛 trapped in a cycle of dependency but are able to get on, stand on their own 2 feet and build a better life for themselves and their family.

Let鈥檚 be clear about the welfare system we inherited. It was a system where in too many cases people were paid more to be on benefits than to be in work. A system where people could claim unlimited amounts of housing benefit 鈥� in London there were people claiming truly astonishing sums of 拢60,000, 拢70,000, 拢80,000 a year. A system where hundreds of thousands of people were put on Incapacity Benefit and never reassessed, essentially taken off the books and forgotten about. None of these things is defensible. And it is right both economically 鈥� and morally 鈥� to change them.

皇冠体育app founders of our welfare system believed in the principle of responsibility 鈥� and so do we. As I said on the steps of Downing Street on my first night as Prime Minister, 鈥渢hose who can should, those who can鈥檛 we will always help鈥�. Those who can鈥檛 work will be always supported, but those who can work have the responsibility to do so. 皇冠体育app welfare system should never take that responsibility away. Whatever your religious or spiritual perspective, I believe very firmly that it is wrong to penalise those who work hard and do the right thing while rewarding those who can work, but don鈥檛.

Second, Archbishop Nichols鈥檚 claims that the basic safety net no longer exists are simply not true. Let鈥檚 get the facts straight. Yes, we made the difficult but correct decision that benefits should not go up faster than wages. But the safety net remains in place. If you鈥檙e over 25 and looking for work you receive 拢71.70 a week in Jobseekers鈥� Allowance 鈥� 拢6.25 a week more than at the last election. If you鈥檙e under 25 the figure is 拢56.80 a week 鈥� 拢4.90 more per week than at the last election.

We are working through everyone who used to be on Incapacity Benefit to see who is capable of work 鈥� but those who can鈥檛 work will still get the help they need. 皇冠体育app safety net remains, too, for Britain鈥檚 families 鈥� child tax credit for the poorest families has increased by 拢420.

Third, our welfare reforms are not just right in principle, they are right in practice, too. As well as providing a safety net, a key test of a welfare system is whether it supports people into work.

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皇冠体育app number of workless households is steadily coming down 鈥� a quarter of a million more children in our country have a role model who gets up in the morning, goes to work and provides for them. 皇冠体育appre are more people in work than ever before 鈥� 1.3 million more since the last election who are able to count on the security and stability of a regular pay cheque.

Of course, we are in the middle of a long and difficult journey turning our country around. That means difficult decisions to get our deficit down, making sure that the debts of this generation are not our children鈥檚 to inherit. But our welfare reforms go beyond that alone: they are about giving new purpose, new opportunity, new hope 鈥� and yes, new responsibility to people who had previously been written off with no chance.

Seeing these reforms through is at the heart of our long-term economic plan 鈥� and it is at the heart, too, of our social and moral mission in politics today.