I, like you I'm sure, see this as a test of politics and of politicians. It is for this reason that I have campaigned long and hard for this government to put it top of the list of our priorities. It is a scandal that one in every three children in Britain was living in poverty - before the recession hit us all. Now that we face the worst recession for 80 years we can expect many, many, more children to slip into poverty. Before this recession we were told we were one of the richest countries in the world. Try telling that to the millions of families who live in crushing conditions. Who live in such depths of poverty they are unlikely ever to be able to pull themselves out of it, and stand little chance of a happy and fulfilled life. I have marched on the House of Commons, launched a petition signed by local people, raised questions and debates, called for answers and put as much pressure as possible on this government to halve child poverty by 2010, and end child poverty by 2020. That is what this government promised to do. It would cost £3 Billion extra each year between now and 2020. Three Billion pounds is a lot of money. But it is nothing compared to the hundreds of billions of pounds of public money this government has thrown at banks over just the past six months. We must ask ourselves this question. When a government can put banks (which continue to pay obscene bonuses to their bosses using our money) before the health and well-being of millions of children then what sort of values does that government stand for?
Below, I set out the facts. They do not make comfortable reading. Blaenau Gwent and its people have always been fair- and independent- minded. We have always been fierce in our determination to tackle injustice.
Please take time to read it, and then join me in taking action to tackle what is a scourge and a scandal at the heart of our society, which shames us all.
Dai Davies, February 2009.