UK Faces International Scrutiny: UN Condemns Poverty Levels as a Violation of International Law
Poverty levels in the UK have been dubbed as “simply not acceptable”, and are in violation of international law, according to the United Nations’ poverty envoy, Oliver De Schutter.
Having previously committed to an international covenant, the UK is under a duty to implement a sufficient level of social protection to ensure an adequate standard of living. However, with rising housing, electricity and food costs over the past few years, £85 a week for adults has been condemned as “too low to protect people from poverty” and is in violation of article nine of the international covenant on economic, social [and cultural] rights. The government must endeavour to increase universal credit, as current welfare payments in the UK lag behind the rising cost of living, and are of central importance for the UK to meet its international obligations it has currently been accused of breaching.
It has been reported that more than one-fifth of the UK population is at risk of poverty, government data demonstrating that 14.4 million people lived in relative poverty in 2021-2022, a million more than the previous year. The Government’s current policies are simply not working, with De Schutter remarking that “much more needs to be done for these people to be protected”. Further exacerbation of poverty under Conservative rule has been demonstrated by destitution (the struggle of affording basic and fundamental needs such as staying warm, dry, clean and fed) being two and a half times more the amount in 2022 compared to 2017, according to research conducted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
However, this can hardly come as a surprise considering our current government's insensitivity and lack of awareness of pressing socio-economic issues. It was only recently that our Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, remarked that rough sleeping was a “lifestyle choice”. The right-wing cabinet minister even went as far as proposing to establish a civil offence via the upcoming Criminal Justice Bill to deter charities from providing tents to homeless people in need. The Criminal Justice Bill currently in the works is set to replace the outdated, 200-year-old,1824 Vagrancy Act, however, it seems as if our current government has retained the regressive views of its predecessors. Laying blame on those being forced to sleep rough will surely push people further away from receiving help, placing them at risk of exploitation. Instead of penalising charities attempting to combat this issue, surely it would be more productive for the government to focus on housing solutions, implement support services and increase housing benefits so “people can afford their rent” in increasingly harsh conditions, De Schutter has pertinently suggested.
This is all in spite of the fact that the government has been confronted with this issue before, notably Philip Alston’s damning report into poverty in the UK which was published following his two-week research visit in 2018. “The warning signals that Philip Alston gave five years ago were not acted upon,” said De Schutter. The government was quick to dismiss Alston’s report, with ministers commenting that it was “barely believable”. However, now faced with damning statistics, we can only hope that the government will attempt to combat this issue.
Until then, Alston’s words five years ago could not ring truer, “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”.
By Isabella Spagnoli
