The UN’s poverty expert said ‘sustained and widespread cuts to social support’ are ‘in clear violation of the country’s human rights obligations’ (Picture: Bassam Khawaja/United Nations/PA)

Stinging cuts to services have seen the UK’s ‘social safety net’ slashed and replaced with ‘a harsh and uncaring ethos’, a UN poverty expert said.

Despite being the world’s fifth biggest economy, almost one-fifth of the population currently live in poverty, with 1.5million of those experiencing destitution in 2017.

Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, singled out benefit cuts in a withering report released today that accuses the government of violating its human rights obligations with its policies.

In it, he says close to 40 per cent of children are predicted to be living in poverty by 2021.




‘Food banks have proliferated; homelessness and rough sleeping have increased greatly; tens of thousands of poor families must live in accommodation far from their schools, jobs and community networks; life expectancy is falling for certain groups; and the legal aid system has been decimated,’ Mr Alston said.

‘The social safety net has been badly damaged by drastic cuts to local authorities’ budgets, which have eliminated many social services, reduced policing services, closed libraries in record numbers, shrunk community and youth centres and sold off public spaces and buildings.

‘The bottom line is that much of the glue that has held British society together since the Second World War has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos. A booming economy, high employment and a budget surplus have not reversed austerity, a policy pursued more as an ideological than an economic agenda.’

The United Nations poverty expert has delivered a damning assessment of austerity measures in the UK (Picture: Bassam Khawaja/United Nations/PA)

Philip Alston (right), the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, meeting with a pastor in Clacton during an official visit to the UK (Picture: Bassam Khawaja/United Nations/PA)

The report calls on the government to reverse ‘particularly regressive’ measures such as the benefit freeze, the two-child limit, the benefit cap, and reduction in housing benefit.

It also recommends restoring local government funding to provide social protection and tackle poverty.

Mr Alston added: ‘Considering the significant resources available in the country and the sustained and widespread cuts to social support, which have resulted in significantly worse outcomes, the policies pursued since 2010 amount to retrogressive measures in clear violation of the country’s human rights obligations.’

Labour’s shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said the report was ‘a shocking indictment of the brutal cuts to social security introduced by Conservative-led governments since 2010 and the deeply flawed, punitive system that they have created’.

‘The evidence it sets out should be a source of shame to this government, from people being driven into debt due to the wait for Universal Credit, through to those at risk of destitution because of the draconian sanctions regime,’ she added.

‘The sharp increase in food bank use tells us that the social security system has lost its way and is failing to protect people from poverty.

‘The government attacked the initial report in November as being “political” and brushed it aside. It must now end this state of denial, listen to the evidence and take urgent action to tackle the profound injustices in our society.’

Mr Alston at a town hall in Newham (Picture: Bassam Khawaja/United Nations/PA)

In his report, Mr Alston says close to 40% of children are predicted to be living in poverty by 2021 (Picture: Bassam Khawaja/United Nations/PA)

But the Department for Work and Pensions blasted the UN report, branding it ‘barely believable’ and ‘completely inaccurate’.

A spokesman said: ‘The UN’s own data shows the UK is one of the happiest places in the world to live, and other countries have come here to find out more about how we support people to improve their lives.



‘Therefore this is a barely believable documentation of Britain, based on a tiny period of time spent here. It paints a completely inaccurate picture of our approach to tackling poverty.

‘We take tackling poverty extremely seriously which is why we spend £95 billion a year on welfare and maintain a state pension system that supports people into retirement.

‘All the evidence shows that full-time work is the best way to boost your income and quality of life, which is why our welfare reforms are focused on supporting people into employment and we introduced the National Living Wage, so people earn more in work.’

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