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Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation responded to the publication of the final report from UN Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston

“There can be no moral justification for failing to act on this report. The picture painted by the Rapporteur builds on our evidence of the 14 million people locked in poverty in the UK. We all want to live in a country where everyone is free to build a decent life. For too many people in the UK that is a distant dream.

"The Government has rightly said that it wants to act with more compassion, to loosen the grip of poverty and support people to move into good jobs which provide a decent standard of living.

“As a nation we have tackled poverty before and we need to see tangible action to do so again. Social security must provide an anchor for people in hard times – it absolutely can’t be a system that leaves them destitute.

“Despite all the distractions, poverty is an injustice which continues to burn and can’t be allowed to continue. Together we can solve this but we need the Government to tell us what action it will take right now.”

View report here