A new cross-party group of MPs has launched a coordinated push to shift the UK’s approach to poverty, arguing that government policy remains too focused on managing hardship rather than preventing it in the first place.
Twenty MPs from Labour, the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and independent benches have signed up as founding supporters of a new Parliamentary Poverty Prevention Caucus. The initiative, led by campaign group Taxpayers Against Poverty in partnership with Compassion in Politics, aims to develop practical, long-term solutions to tackle the structural causes of poverty.
The move comes amid continued economic uncertainty and rising living costs, with campaigners warning that more households risk being pushed into hardship without a fundamental change in approach.
From crisis response to prevention
At the heart of the initiative is a pledge signed by all participating MPs, committing them to prioritise policies that prevent poverty and inequality, and to act with “integrity, respect, and compassion” in both Parliament and their constituencies.
Campaigners argue that the UK lacks a coherent national strategy for preventing poverty, despite the significant public cost of its consequences. Billions are spent each year on services responding to hardship – from housing support to health interventions – rather than addressing its root causes.
Tom Burgess, chief executive of Taxpayers Against Poverty, says the current approach is economically short-sighted as well as socially damaging: “In a time of global instability and economic pressure, we are seeing more families pushed to the edge,” he says. “Britain spends billions dealing with the consequences of poverty, yet far too little preventing it.”
He adds that the case for prevention is now well established. “The recently published Nicolson Report makes clear that a prevention-led approach is not only the right moral choice, but an economic necessity. Preventing poverty reduces long-term pressure on public services, strengthens public finances, and improves life chances across the country.”
Rising pressure on households in the East
The launch of the caucus comes against a backdrop of worsening poverty indicators across parts of the UK, including in the East of England. Analysis from the Trades Union Congress has found a sharp rise in child poverty among working households in the region since 2010, underlining the extent to which employment alone no longer guarantees financial security.
Nationally, research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has also highlighted the persistence of poverty despite periods of economic growth, with millions of households unable to meet essential costs.
Campaigners argue that these trends reflect deeper structural issues, including low pay, insecure work, high housing costs and gaps in the social security system – problems that require long-term policy solutions rather than short-term mitigation.
Building cross-party consensus
The Parliamentary Poverty Prevention Caucus is intended to provide a forum for MPs, policy experts and civil society organisations to collaborate on those solutions. By bringing together representatives from across the political spectrum, its organisers hope to build consensus around policies that can endure beyond electoral cycles.
Founding supporters include two MPs from East Anglia: Clive Lewis (Labour, Norwich South) and Adrian Ramsay (Green Party, Waveney Valley). Others are Nadia Whittome (Labour), Carla Denyer (Green Party), Andrew George (Liberal Democrats), and Kirsty Blackman and Seamus Logan (SNP), alongside others from different parties and political traditions. That breadth of support reflects a growing recognition across Westminster that existing approaches are not delivering sustained reductions in poverty.
Alongside the parliamentary initiative, Taxpayers Against Poverty has also launched a national petition, inviting the public to call on ministers to make poverty prevention a central priority of national policy.
A long-term shift in thinking
The caucus is expected to draw on evidence from the Nicolson Report, which brings together research, official statistics and case studies to assess both the scale of poverty in the UK and the costs associated with it. Its central argument is that early intervention – whether through better social security design, investment in affordable housing, or measures to improve job quality – can reduce the long-term burden on public services while improving outcomes for individuals and communities.
A formal launch event for the caucus is planned in Westminster later this year, where MPs and campaigners will set out their priorities in more detail.
For its supporters, the aim is clear: to reframe poverty not as an inevitable feature of economic life, but as a preventable outcome of policy choices.
This article is based on a press release from Taxpayers Against Poverty, compiled with assistance from AI tools and edited by East Anglia Bylines.
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