We scraped out of recession but poor children are even poorer

Two very simple statistics came out today which lay bare the appalling legacy of the appalling Prime Minister Blair.

The first was that the economy had scraped out of recession by a mere 0.1%. This is a very small figure and as these forecasts are made on having received only 40% of the data required to get a more accurate figure it is likely that this will be revised down again at probably just before the General Election. The Government will have hoped for a more definitive bounce into growth and yet it has not happened. A number of economists are now saying that they fear a double-dip recession as we plunge back into negative growth. This is so depressing for hard working families who thought they might just see their pay packets or the bills recede. Now, not only are they going to have to pay for Brown’s folly in higher taxes and cut services but they also now have to face a more uncertain future on the jobs and mortgage front.

The second piece of incredibly bad news is that broken by Save the Children (STC) that despite all the money that Labour have spent sever child poverty is rising. In fact another 260,000 children slipped into this category where day by day parents are having to make tough choices to feed either them or the children or turn the heating off. The Government claimed it has helped half a million children but these are figures based on their own criteria. STC used this as the criteria:

However, Save the Children defines severe poverty as those living in households with incomes of less than 50% of the UK median income (disregarding housing costs) and who were also missing some basic possessions, such as a winter coat.

It is incredible that the Labour party still want this Prime Minister to lead them when he has laid waste a generation of children and families who now have to pay the debts of his recklensses. Tell me now that doing something to help families stay together should not be priority. I for one will be doing all that I can to support Save the Children in their campaign to reduce child poverty.

BBC News - Save the Children says severe child poverty 'going up'