John Battle, Labour MP for Leeds West, has tabled a commons motion urging the government to support the measures to help target up to one million children living in poverty here in the UK.

Commenting on the Early Day motion John Battle said “the past year has seen an unprecedented campaign by the make poverty history coalition tackling poverty in the developed world which I have supported. We must also recognise that poverty exists in our own back yards and work at making sure that the government helps tackle child poverty – the Save the children report findings point to up to one million children in Britain living in severe and persistent poverty – as we act globally to tackle poverty we must act locally to do the same.”

The text of the EDM reads “That this house welcomes Save the Children's recent report "Britain's Poorest Children Revisited" and notes with extreme concern the findings that one million children in Britain live in severe and persistent poverty; further notes that additional action is needed if the Government is to meet its targets and if disadvantaged young people are to be given opportunities to fulfil their full potential; and urges the Government to measure the number of children living in severe and persistent poverty and commit to a strategy that explicitly targets these children, who may number up to one million.”

©John Battle MP 30 January 2006