Bishop hits out at ‘divisive rhetoric’

Rt Rev David Walker: Government rhetoric “divisive”

The Bishop of Manchester claims the Government’s plans for welfare and immigration show it is “on a different planet” from struggling families.

Mossley-born the Rt Rev David Walker said the Government’s rhetoric on the poor was “divisive” and “like something from a Victorian novel”.

The senior clergyman claimed that while the economy is improving, most of it isn’t due to Chancellor George Osborne’s plans.

He said the people most affected were often the disabled and the children of poor families, plunging them “literally below the bread line and through the doors of the parish foodbank.”

He said: “Beyond the occasional burst of bravado in front of TV cameras, I do not recognise in the poor of Britain the image that the ‘plan’ suggests, that of a feckless underclass, choosing to sponge off the state, laughing at those of us who work hard for a living.

“Nor do I find any evidence of significant numbers of migrants who come to Britain to exploit our health services and out-of-work benefits.

“The rhetoric that divides the poor so sharply into deserving and undeserving is a deep untruth; it has no place in our society outside the pages of a Victorian novel.”