Anti-poverty groups clash over campaign

A call by the Church Action on Poverty charity
encouraging people to live on the minimum wage during Lent has been
criticised by another anti-poverty group for not going far
enough.

Child Poverty Action Group director Martin
Barnes said that while he supported campaigns that highlighted the
plight of Britain’s poor, “living on the minimum wage for Lent is
not enough and people have to have more of a sense of outrage and
anger at poverty pay in Britain”.

However, a CAP spokesperson said the charity
had consulted a panel of individuals who live on income support and
the minimum wage, and they supported the campaign. He added: “The
Lent action will make people much more reflective on how they spend
their incomes and what they spend it on.”