Advertisement
Opinion

Activist Army. Parliament returns – call for change

“Preventing people from falling into poverty will save billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money each year…”

Brexit negotiations are due to begin this week.

We still don’t know if the clamour for more cross-party involvement and a softer EU exit will have any effect. Or if Theresa May, with her wafer-thin majority, will dig in for a harder goodbye.

One thing is certain – no matter what the outcome, the voice of the poorest in society will not be the loudest at the table.

We must push them to keep poverty prevention top of their agenda

Which is why our poverty-dismantling manifesto and John Bird’s call for a Poverty Prevention Unit in Parliament remains urgent and essential.

As MPs, old and new, listen to the Queen’s Speech and learn the programme for government for the period ahead (however long it lasts), we must push them to keep poverty prevention top of their agenda.

Throughout the election a huge volume of politicians – from party leaders down – pledged to do so. This is no time to forget.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertisement

Preventing people from falling into poverty – creating a fence at the top of the cliff – will save billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money each year. From health to prisons, unemployment to welfare, the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff has a vast human and financial cost; as much as £78bn a year.

But if poverty prevention is at the heart of public policy in every key department – education and housing, communities and crime, health and social security – the payoffs down the line to society will be massive.

So we want to grow our Activist Army and have you lobby every MP in the UK to make the creation of a Poverty Prevention Unit a top priority.

Here’s how:

Step 1. Identify your MP. Look them up at writetothem.com

Step 2. Phone, email or write explaining why a Poverty Prevention Unit is necessary.

Step 3. Keep the pressure on. Follow-up. Demand a response to your inquiry. They are your voice in the UK Parliament, and if you believe prevention is better than cure, make sure they know it.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Never miss an issue

Take advantage of our special subscription offer. Subscribe from just £9.99 and never miss an issue.

Recommended for you

Read All
This theatre company uses Jellycat toys to break barriers for children across the UK
The Noisy Dinosaur production from Toucan Theatre. Image of two cast members with jellycats
James Baldwin

This theatre company uses Jellycat toys to break barriers for children across the UK

Just Stop Oil may be reviled – but their tactics reshaped the climate movement
Just Stop Oil
Sam Nadel

Just Stop Oil may be reviled – but their tactics reshaped the climate movement

More and more poor children are missing school since Covid. Here's how to get them back in class
Martin Hodge

More and more poor children are missing school since Covid. Here's how to get them back in class

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn't have to be this way
Hannah Paylor

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn't have to be this way

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue