Labour must tackle poverty to hold back Reform UK, says Big Issue founder

Labour volition not clasp backmost the emergence of Reform UK if it fails to tackle poverty, the Big Issue co-founder John Bird has warned arsenic helium tables an amendment to the schools measure that would unit governments to conscionable legally binding kid poorness simplification targets.

Lord Bird, who sits arsenic a crossbench peer, said Nigel Farage’s enactment was “only going places due to the fact that the large parties person mislaid their way”.

“This government, similar those who came before, has mislaid the spot of its supporters by muddling through, caring much for the contiguous than ensuring an enduring and amended semipermanent future. Shuffling into the aboriginal and carrying poorness with them,” helium said.

On Monday, Bird volition array an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools measure that would spot a statutory work connected the authorities to acceptable targets to trim kid poorness successful England.

Bird, who was calved successful a Notting Hill slum successful London successful 1946 and became stateless aged five, said helium feared the state was “returning to the deep, achy poorness I was calved into”.

“The whims of politicians bounds the economy’s quality to turn successful a mode that helps moving people, creating poorness faster than immoderate different constituent successful the 21st century. So it is some a motivation and a governmental necessity that Labour instrumentality urgent, meaningful action,” helium said.

The latest authoritative figures showed a grounds 4.5 cardinal children were surviving successful poverty successful the UK successful the twelvemonth to April 2024, up 100,000 from the erstwhile year.

In its wide predetermination manifesto, Labour promised an “ambitious strategy to trim kid poverty”, which is expected to beryllium published successful the coming months. But campaigners person warned that unless the authorities scraps policies specified arsenic the two-child payment cap, kid poorness numbers could rise.

Bird said the amendment “would mean each aboriginal governments volition beryllium held to relationship connected reducing kid poverty”.

“It would clasp this government’s feet to the occurrence successful taking long-term, genuinely preventive enactment for the 4.5 cardinal children successful this state who unrecorded successful poorness – and awesome to the UK nationalist that they are yet taking poorness seriously,” helium said.

The determination is being backed by the National Children’s Bureau, whose main executive, Anna Feuchtwang, said “legally binding targets to trim kid poorness volition assistance crook governmental rhetoric into existent alteration successful people’s lives”.

“Either the authorities fulfils its manifesto pledge and holds itself accountable for creating a nine wherever each children tin thrive, oregon we hazard kid poorness continuing to emergence implicit the adjacent 4 years,” she added. “Only by committing to semipermanent measurable goals tin we forestall poorness being a governmental football.”

YouGov polling for the Big Issue recovered that 72% of British radical surveyed thought Labour should beryllium doing much to tackle poorness successful the UK, a fig that has risen by 18% successful conscionable implicit six months.

In September 2024, 54% of Britons felt the authorities was not doing capable for radical successful poverty.

The schools bill, which is being prepared for scrutiny astatine committee signifier successful the House of Lords, includes a scope of caller laws aimed astatine improving the safeguarding and payment of children, arsenic good arsenic improving education.

The wide-ranging proposals see a nationalist registry for children not successful school, escaped meal clubs successful each superior schools, ineligible limits connected branded azygous items and stricter rules for academy schools.