article_snippet.sent: ‘trying to lift people up’ by making work pay and encouraging responsibility.
article_snippet.sent: But much of the 50-page document was widely interpreted as indirect criticism of the Coalition’s welfare policies, which include a £26,000-a-year cap on household benefits, a new universal credit designed to ensure people are always better off in work and tough sanctions to prevent people languishing on jobless benefits.
article_snippet.sent: Bishops complained that welfare claimants were ‘described in terms that imply welfare claimants were are undeserving, dependent and ought to be self-sufficient’.
article_snippet.sent: Bishops insisted it was ‘game-playing … to claim that anyone who cares about the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable members of society is… careless about the extent of national indebtedness’.
article_snippet.sent: Despite evidence that the best-off are paying more in tax than ever before, Bishops also complained that ‘the greatest burdens of austerity have not been borne by those with the broadest shoulders’.
article_snippet.sent: Official Treasury figures suggest that the richest 10 per cent of households are contributing most to deficit reduction.
article_snippet.sent: The Archbishop of Canterbury John Sentamu blamed welfare cuts and 'poverty wages' for rising inequality .
article_snippet.sent: The Prime Minister said Government had inherited ‘exceptional pressure on the national finances’ from Labour, adding: ‘I am proud that despite the pressure on public spending, our made clear choices to help the poorest paid and most vulnerable in society.
article_snippet.sent: ‘our have increased NHS spending, despite the overriding need to deal with the deficit.
article_snippet.sent: our also raised the threshold of income tax to lift the poorest paid out of income tax altogether.
article_snippet.sent: More fundamentally, the core of our recovery programme – dealing with the deficit to restore confidence in our economy – is based on enduring ideas and principles: hard work, fair play, rewarding people for doing the right thing, and securing a better future for our children.