Commenting on today's emergency budget, the Revd John Marsh, moderator of the general assembly of the United Reformed Church said that the church will need to rediscover its mission to the poor as the austerity measures announced begin to impact on people living in the UK. "Whilst the Chancellor is to be given credit for seeking to achieve a measure of fairness in spending cuts and tax increases, it is the poorest members of our society who are going to bear the brunt of the cuts to benefits and public services and the increase in VAT from next year" he said.
Frank Kantor, URC secretary for church and society added that it was regrettable that the Chancellor had failed to impose a more ambitious levy on banks to raise significant finance to cut the deficit whilst addressing good causes in the UK and abroad, as financial institutions were directly responsible for the financial crisis and ensuing economic recession. Frank said, "t is morally repugnant that the public discourse on the financial crisis has shifted from the private to the public sector over the past 18 months and that those least responsible for this crisis - the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society - are continuing to pay the highest price in terms of lost income and livelihoods,' he said.
The United Reformed Church passed an emergency resolution at their Mission Council in November last year expressing support for the introduction of a global financial transaction tax to raise funds for international development, climate change adaptation and poverty alleviation in the UK and abroad whilst also paying off the budget deficit. This call has been taken up by the Robin Hood Tax campaign in the UK of which the United Reformed Church is a founder member.