Newsletter, Summer 2014
The Tawney Dialogue
For some time now, the welfare issue
has been front and centre because of
the debate raging around the use of
foodbanks and documentaries like
Benefits Street giving a
misleading picture of the use
of Benefits and social
security. As Christians on
the Left we have been in
the thick of this debate, working with
the Trussell Trust,
Christians Against
Poverty and other
Christian agencies to
make the case in Westminster.
In March, we had a great Tawney
dialogue with Rachel Reeves MP and Dr
Anna Rowlands, theologian from King’s
College London.
Anna Rowlands spoke on the welfare
state from the perspective of
Catholic Social Teaching and
was hugely impressive. We
decided to reproduce
some excerpts from
her talk here.
However, to get the
full impact, it’s well
worth listening to the full
recording by visiting our
website.
“Christian leaders have spoken out vociferously on the question of welfare, from the
frontline of the Church’s pastoral experience …
they didn’t suggest that the welfare state should
be preserved in aspic, nor did they say that
democratically elected governments shouldn’t
develop public policy as times change. What they
spoke against were the social facts of increased
hunger, destitution and growing inequality.”
CONTENTS
The Tawney Dialogue
“The Bedroom tax; The failures of
means testing; The rise of a
punitive sanctions culture;
The rise of the in-work
poor: those who
‘earn their own
poverty’. And then
there are the long term
non-citizen destitute,
migrants trapped, unable to
move on, unable to achieve
legal recognition, unable to work.
The Churches have become experts
in dealing with such cases.”
“Christians have been at the forefront of
calls to mutualise welfare, to return to a
more contributory system, to devolve welfare
powers towards regional, local government and
civil society, to seek welfare through social
innovation. The Bishops haven’t talked
about any of that. But the bishops
have exercised their rightful
episcope in allowing suffering to
speak.”
“There is no one
Christian answer to the
future of welfare.
Christians (including
Christians on the Left) have
been – and still are - found on all
sides of this debate. There are, however,
some common trajectories at least that are
worth paying attention to.”
“A ‘welfare’ state, by contrast [to a power state],
ruled with and for its people, it was an active
state, committed to partnership with a wider
civil community. As catholic social teaching
later expressed it, the state could be seen as the
structure to enable sustained social solidarity,
P1
A Line In The Sand
P3
Summit Report
P4
Faith and Politics
P5
Contact Details
P5
Robin Hood Tax
P5
Family Values
P6
Politics and People
P7
Shoulders of Giants
P8
Staying Focused
P11
Upcoming Events
P12
Video Content
P13
This newsletter is
edited, published and
printed by Christians on
the Left, at PO Box
65108, London, SW1P
9PQ. You can email the
office on
info@christiansontheleft.
org.uk or telephone on
0207 783 1590