Archbishop Vincent Nichols condemns welfare cuts

Cardinal-designate Archbishop Vincent Nichols today condemned the UK Government's austerity programme as a ‘disgrace’, leaving increasing numbers of people to face “hunger and destitution”.

In a hard-hitting interview published in the Telegraph this morning, the Archbishop of Westminster said that while the need to reduce spending on benefits is widely accepted, the Government’s reforms have now destroyed even the “basic safety net”.

The welfare system he said, had also become increasingly “punitive”, often leaving people with nothing for days on end if they fail even to fill a form in correctly. Archbishop Nichols said it was “a disgrace” that this was possible in a country as rich as Britain.

“People do understand that we do need to tighten our belts and be much more responsible and careful in public expenditure,” said the Archbishop. “But I think what is happening is two things: one is that the basic safety net that was there to guarantee that people would not be left in hunger or in destitution has actually been torn apart.

“It no longer exists and that is a real, real dramatic crisis. And the second is that, in this context, the administration of social assistance, I am told, has become more and more punitive. So if applicants don’t get it right then they have to wait for 10 days, for two weeks with nothing - with nothing.

“For a country of our affluence, that quite frankly is a disgrace.”

Archbishop Vincent Nicho will be made a cardinal at the Consistory in Rome next Saturday, 22 February 2014.

See the Telegraph article and film here:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10639015/New-Cardinal-Vincent-Nichols-welfare-cuts-frankly-a-disgrace.html