[UK] We must act now to wipe out child poverty, says Blair

from The Yorkshire Today

Premier shrugs off speculation over his future grasp on power to set out vision for Britain's youth

Paul Jeeves

BENEATH a banner proclaiming Our Nation's Future, Tony Blair yesterday spelt out his vision for eradicating child poverty – as question marks hung over his grasp on power.

The Prime Minister may not have welcomed the positioning of the lectern below such a bold statement, but a carefully selected audience was never going to throw up any unexpected questions on the continuing debate about when he will actually step down.

Instead, Mr Blair was given a platform in York to outline the Government's long-term plans to overcome poverty and social exclusion, especially among the younger generation, in some of Britain's most disadvantaged communities.

But the Prime Minister was conscious of the heightening speculation over his future, and prefaced his speech with a humorous reference to the debate.

He told the audience that he had been asked to attend a health charity's seminar at his York hotel, and said: "Guess what the title of their talk is? Blazoned across it was, 'What leadership challenges remain for me?' That's them, incidentally."

His 30-minute speech was delivered at New Earswick Folk Hall, the community centre built 100 years ago at the heart of Joseph Rowntree's utopian vision on the outskirts of York.

It was not without incident, as a band of protesters gathered on the green opposite and their amplified demonstration railing against the war in Iraq and the need to protect the environment could be heard from inside the hall.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation had organised the conference as the Government prepares a raft of new policies to deal with social exclusion, an outline of which is due to be announced next week.

Social Exclusion Minister Hilary Armstrong will launch the plan, which includes more support for children in care, disadvantaged families and mental health patients, as well as moves to tackle teenage pregnancy rates.

Mr Blair yesterday insisted that the Government must act early to prevent children from dysfunctional families "going off the rails", and claimed early state intervention might be the only way to "save" such children and the wider community.

He admitted there might be accusations about a nanny state, but warned that elements of social exclusion were "deeply intractable" and those suffering most were often hard to reach.

Mr Blair insisted that he was not talking about "so-called baby Asbos" or the state raising children and interfering with normal family life.

During a question and answer session after his lecture, Mr Blair said: "It is a huge thing we are talking about, but what better place to be talking about it than here (in New Earswick)? We are trying to recreate today the work the Rowntree Foundation started 100 years ago."

As he arrived for the lecture, the Prime Minister was given a welcome distraction from his political future when he was greeted by an old school colleague, Mark Johnson, 48, of York, who went to Durham Chorister School with Mr Blair in 1965.

Mr Johnson, a director of Alphasound, the company which provided the sound system for yesterday's lecture, showed the Prime Minister a photograph of himself, comedian Rowan Atkinson and Mr Blair at school.

Referring to the photo in his introductions, the Prime Minister welcomed Mr Johnson to the audience and said he was "wearing better than me".

However, Mr Johnson claimed his memories of Mr Blair were only vague, as the future Prime Minister was in his final year at the school as he was just starting.

Among those in a 220-strong audience of charity representatives and academics was Bev Hughes, the Minister for Children, Young People and Families, who highlighted the Government's initial success at aiding disadvantaged children through the Sure Start scheme.

But Mr Blair acknowledged that efforts to eradicate social exclusion could take more than a generation, and claimed that increasing prosperity was actually compounding problems for a minority he dubbed the "excluded of the excluded".

Mr Blair said: "We must not in any way let up on the action we take to deal directly with child poverty.

"But, at the same time, we have to recognise that for some families, problems are more multiple, more deep and more pervasive than simply low income."

According to Mr Blair, Britain is the fastest improving European nation for child poverty. He added that in the Yorkshire region there are 56,000 fewer children in poverty than in 1997.

But afterwards, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "The Prime Minister's warm words are too little, too late. It is deeply worrying that the chances of a poor child becoming a poor adult are still growing.

"At the same time, bonuses in the City have climbed to record levels. Who would have predicted this after nine years of a Labour government?"
paul.jeeves@ypn.co.uk