The House of Bishops has issued a wide-ranging critique of the welfare system, in a discussion paper that refers to the system\u2019s inability to tackle an \u201cenemy which threatens the well-being of our people\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Starting from the \u201cFive Giant Evils\u201d\u009d identified in the 1942 Beveridge report, on which the welfare state was based \u201d\u201d Want, Disease, Squalor, Ignorance, and Idleness \u201d\u201d the Bishops\u2019 paper adds \u201ca giant which all can see around them, which most experience at some time in their lives, but which few will name. It is the Enemy Isolation.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The 17-page paper, Thinking Afresh about Welfare: The enemy isolation, has been produced by the Director of Mission and Public Affairs, the Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, in association with the Bishops of Norwich, St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, and Truro. It contains echoes of the House\u2019s pre-election pastoral letter of 2015.<\/p>\n