Bishop: Govt is attacking religious leaders
Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, comments on plans to cap benefits to the Yorkshire Post:
“I am surprised we have got this diatribe, a real attack on the bishops [from the government]. I’m surprised they have taken this aggressive line.
“We are not talking here about people who have £26,000 to spend, we are talking about people whose rent may be £300 or even more per week – and so that money is going out again.
“These are people who may well find it very difficult to pay the rent … because rents have escalated.
“As things stand, the bill will give the same cap to people who have no children as it will to people with a number of children. It costs money to bring up children, and there need to be some payment here for that.”
