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Portsmouth MP backs commitment to eliminate in-work poverty

By 21 July 2019September 8th, 2022No Comments

Stephen Morgan MP has expressed support following a speech made by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell MP.

The speech, which pledged that the next Labour government would end in-work poverty over the course of a parliament, secures Labour’s position on ending what the Joseph Rowntree Foundation referred to as “the problem of our times”.

Shadow Communities Minister, Stephen Morgan MP said:

“We know that In-work poverty has risen to around one-in-five people in working households, meaning that it is harder and harder for Portsmouth families to make ends meet.

I welcome the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer’s commitment to end this modern-day scourge.

Working families are the backbone of this nation, it is wholly unjust that dedicated, conscientious people are bearing the brunt of this Government’s austerity measures.”

The speech forms part of Labour’s long-running war on poverty in all its forms. In June, the party announced a new Social Justice Commission to replace the Social Mobility Commission, with a new Minister for Social Justice based in HM Treasury.

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell MP said:

“We need a structurally different economy, a social safety net of shared public service provision, and of course a financial safety net as well.

Without any one of these three elements, we will not be able to achieve the sustained eradication of poverty, the dramatic narrowing of inequality, and the transformation of people’s lives that will be the central purpose of the next Labour Government.”

Labour’s three-pronged attack, outlined by the Shadow Chancellor seeks to make public services free at the point of delivery and funded by fair taxation, deliver structural changes to the economy in the form of public regional banks and a new industrial strategy, and create a strong social safety net by reviewing the nation’s social security system.

Stephen Morgan MP added:

“The role that local government will have in these comprehensive plans set out by the Shadow Chancellor will be extensive. Many working families will be employed in local services while others will be in receipt of them.

In my new role as Shadow Communities Minister, I look forward to working alongside colleagues in the Shadow Treasury team to eliminate the scourge of in-work poverty faced by our nation.”