Bournemouth West Liberal Democrats’ parliamentary spokesperson, Phil Dunn has expressed dismay this morning at the latest child poverty figures for the constituency.
The latest figures issued by the End Child Poverty coalition show that 4908 children in the constituency are living in poverty after housing costs. The data shows that 28.7% of all the children in Bournemouth West are experiencing financial hardship, an increase of around 250 children or 2.1% on the figures for 2016.
“This is a scandalous testament to this Conservative government’s callous approach to poverty,” he said. “for almost one in three of our children to be in this position is a disgrace”.
In Bournemouth East, the party’s spokesman, Jon Nicholas marked a similar rise.
“In the eastern part of Bournemouth, over 150 more children are experiencing poverty in what many might think of as one of Britain’s more affluent towns.” he said. “To see over 5300 children from the town’s eastern constituency appearing in these figures is simply shameful”.
Commenting on the report from the End Child Poverty coalition revealing that in some areas of the UK more than half of children are living in poverty, Layla Moran MP, the party’s national spokesperson said:
“This is an appalling indictment of a Tory Party that are failing to protect the most vulnerable in society.
“The gulf between children born in the richest and poorest families is widening, but Theresa May is more preoccupied with the gulf in her cabinet over Brexit.
“When we fail our children like this we fail as a society. The government must take action.”
To check out the figures for your area visit https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/child-poverty-heat-map_uk_5a670f77e4b0dc592a0c2c0e?fuk&utm_hp_ref=uk-homepage
