A cross-communal group of 27 rabbis have written to George Osborne asking him to give impoverished families their “human dignity” back.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is due to present his Budget on Wednesday containing £12bn worth of cuts, which the rabbis fear will place more families in poverty.
The collection of mostly Progressive rabbis also called on Mr Osborne to “change the rhetoric of blaming the low paid and instead to implement methods that will alleviate low pay”.
After citing Judaism as their moral touchstone for battling poverty, they also urged the chancellor to “reconsider the punitive benefit sanctions that throw people into financial crisis”, especially as Britain was “one of the richest countries in the world”.
