Bishops on welfare

THE Bishop of Truro is one of 43 signatories of a letter expressing concern about welfare reform being carried out by the Government. Bishop Tim Thornton is one of the Church of England bishops who have signed the open letter which was sent to The Sunday Telegraph. It criticises a proposed bill on benefit increases which is to be debated in the House of Lords. The letter stated: "The Bill will mean that for each of the next three years, most financial support for families will increase by no more than 1 per cent, regardless of how much prices rise. "This is a change that will have a deeply disproportionate impact on families with children, pushing 200,000 children into poverty. A third of all households will be affected by the Bill, but nearly nine out of ten families with children will be hit." The letter concludes: "Children and families are already being hit hard by cuts to support, including those to tax credits, maternity benefits, and help with housing costs. "They cannot afford this further hardship penalty. We are calling on the House of Lords to take action to protect children from the impact of this Bill."