In the Archbishop’s address he highlighted the plight of older and disabled people, calling it a ‘fundamental test for civilised society’.

Archbishop Nichols also stressed the significant challenges of how to tackle unemployment and in-work poverty in the current period of economic hardship. He applauded the tremendous work of CSAN’s member charities and their ability to rise to the challenge of the current circumstances in working to do more, with less.

The reception was attended by Mark Hoban MP, Minister of State for Employment, and Damian Green MP, Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice. The event gave our members an excellent opportunity to discuss important issues with parliamentarians working in their field, and with the MPs in their constituency.

For access to all the photos from the reception follow this link.

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The description of the good life that predates the Church and modern politics is that of Socrates and the philosophers. The good life is the life of virtue as defined by the four cardinal virtues; prudence and temperance, justice and courage.

We can see that the origin of our current economic crisis was a lack of prudence and temperance, combined with a lack of courage to challenge that intemperance. The paradox is that it’s tempting to think the way out of it is by neglecting the fourth virtue, justice. But the good life always includes all four Cardinal virtues and the absence of any one weakens the other three.

The Gospel of the Rich Man and Lazarus shows this. Dives was unmoved by Lazarus’ plight and lacked any sense of justice, that might motivate him to do something. This lack of just action turned out ultimately to be very imprudent; looking back, he could see that he lacked the courage to temper his selfishness and at least do something to help Lazarus.

But the Rich Man may have reasoned it to himself: “this beggar is probably an intemperate drunkard and an imprudent lay about who lacks the courage to get a job – Justice requires me to leave him to his devices”. Dives’ mistake was to assume that Lazarus was undeserving and to focus on just one virtue. But one virtue emphasised at the expense of the others becomes self-defeating, as Dives discovered to his eternal cost.

As our politicians face difficult choices, it would be a foolish priest who laid down policy choices. But what Christian faith can do is remind us all, politicians and civil society, that Our Lord requires us to see all those who are poor, disabled and vulnerable as deserving of our support. Only if investigation proves that they are scroungers can we challenge their need for support. We must assume virtue until we discover vice.

Let’s remember Dives’ mistake was to treat Lazarus as the undeserving poor. In these austere times, there is pressure to assume that the vulnerable members of society are responsible for their own plight. Our faith in Christ strengthens us to resist that assumption; until proven otherwise, the poor and the weak need our help.

In this Mass, we encounter the sacrifice of Christ, the one who became poor and vulnerable. As we share in his sacrifice, we give thanks that he has called us to this great vocation of Christian living and for some of us, the vocation to public service in politics. Thank you for accepting that vocation and may God give you temperance and prudence with courage and justice at this demanding time.

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In a speech that was strong on message but light on policies, perhaps the most interesting thing from our perspective was just how much attention welfare got; in fact ‘welfare that works’ represents one third of Mr. Cameron’s message for the next election, alongside the need for a strong private sector and decent schools.

The language used (the “evils”, “unfairness”, “injustice” and  “tragedy” of the current system) as well as the fact that the Prime Minister himself announced a review of housing benefit for the under 25s, indicates that the government’s commitment to a further welfare shake-up, goes right to the top.

Some of the lines were very encouraging: few will argue that “work isn’t slavey, poverty is slavery” or that “no one is a write-off”. But the big questions remain: in a age of unemployment how do you ensure a safety net is in place for those who simply cannot find work, and if no one is a write-off who do we properly support those who because of illness or disability may never work?

Nick Clegg today set out his own position by accusing his coalition partners of hitting the poorest first. Some analysts are already putting this down to some post conference-season partisan sniping rather than a genuine divide in the government over benefits. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but one thing is for certian…the debate over welfare has really  only just begun.

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Johnson, a favourite with the Conservative faithful, laid out his vision for  facilitating  job growth in the capital through high quality education, policing, housing and infrastructure. Positively, he also reaffirmed his commitment to the London Living Wage, recognising the severity of in-work poverty.

The thrust of Theresa May’s speech focussed on immigration, with a promise to “never again” allow what the Conservatives view as out-of-control levels under Labour. She also teed-up new Justice Secretary Chris Grayling’s “tough” plans for the criminal justice system, including life sentances for people twice convicted of violent or sexual crimes, and powers for victims to influence sentencing in anti-social behaviour case.

The second proposal in particular is likely to throw up some tough questions, including the extent to which we should allow untrained and emotionally involved members of the public to affect the delicate balance between punishment and rehabilitation, especially when young people are involved.

Outside the auditorium our day was taking up with meeting MPs regarding prison regimes, and attending some exciting fringes including a Care and Support Alliance even with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and a Save the Children event featuring Education Secretary Michael Gove.

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Other focuses throughout the day included a fascinating discussion led by think-thank Policy Exchange, about the election of Police and Crime Commissioners for the first time next month. Amongst the issues covered were the low voter turnout forecast and how this will affect the new Commissioners mandates, as well as how the model will impact upon specific areas of crime such as domestic violence.

We also attended a Demos fringe event exploring different methods of  measuring poverty, a theme that has been visible at all three conference, and held meetings with MPs on a range of issues from welfare to social care.

In the evening we once again joined with our colleagues from CAFOD to host Mass for delegates. Fr Christopher Jamison delivered a challenging sermon around stigmatisation of the poor during what was the first ever Mass to be held in the secure zone of the Conservative conference. Afterwards many people stayed around to chat about the Church’s work at home and abroad, and the key issues facing us over the coming year.

The post Conservative Conference diary: day 2 appeared first on CSAN.

Front pages on the first full day of the conference will be dominated by Chancellor George Osbourne’s plans for a further £10 billion worth of cuts to the benefits system. Some particularly dangerous ideas, such as a blanket removal of housing benefit from people under 25, were floated by the Prime Minister earlier this year and look set to return in the Chancellor’s keynote speech on Monday.

A number of charities including CSAN raised concerns the first time around about the detrimental impact that such policies would be likely to have on the UK’s most vulnerable people, particularly considering that the full affects of the recently-passed Welfare Reform Act have not even been realised yet.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith will also be taking to the stage tomorrow, where he is likely to fill in some of the detail and plans for implementation. Whilst Osbourne runs the show at the Treasury it is IDS who will ultimately have to guide the cuts through Parliament.

In other news we enjoyed a great start-of-conference service at a local Church courtesy of the Conservative Christian Felllowship, and attended a Care and Support Alliance even where we had the opportunity to meet with new Health Secreatary Jeremy Hunt to outline some of our concerns about the social care system. Early tomorrow morning we’ll be turning our attention to criminal justice, with a session on the Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Welfare however, will undoubtedly be the story of the day…….

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In the main auditorium criminal justice was one of the key themes being tackled, with a keynote speech from Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Accusing the coalition government of beng soft on crime, Ms. Cooper promised to ‘fight privatisation’ of the police service and laid out plans for a new Police Standards Authority. She also placed a welcome emphasis on tackling domestc violence, which currently results in the death of two women every week.

This speech was followed by Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham’s eagerly anticipated address. After launching a crowd-pleasing attack on the coalition’s handling of the NHS, Mr. Burnham shared his vision of a fully integrated service for health, social care and mental health support. This will be welcome news for many organisations in the care sector and will undoubtedly be one of the big political issues in the run up to the 2015 election.

We finished off our conference schedule by hosting a Mass and Reception with our colleagues from CAFOD. Conference delegates including MPs packed out a room in the main arena to celebrate Mass with Fr Bernard Wilson, then learn more about the Church’s support for the poor both at home and abroad. It was a fitting end to a busy week, which we’ll be doing again at the Conservative Confrence in Birmingham next week.

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After that we had some very useful meetings with MPs on welfare sanctions and criminal justice. Then it was time for the main event: Ed Miliband’s speech….

This was widely regarded as Mr. Miliband’s moment to prove whether he is ‘Prime Ministerial material’ and few have disputed that the no-notes speech was strong in terms of oratory. As for its content, the key message was that Labour must be a ‘One Nation’ party creating a ‘One Nation Britain’ where prosperity is fairly shared and people come together to jointly face national challenges such as the economic downturn.

So what does this mean in practice when it comes to key social issues?

On education and jobs Mr. Miliband promised a fresh focus on those who do not attend university including a new technical baccalaureate as an alternative ‘gold standard’ qualification; he also outlined plans to oblige companies with public contracts to take on apprentices.

When it came to welfare the Labour leader emphasised the need to support those who cannot work, particularly disabled people. Charities and Churches will be on the look out for more detail of the party’s position on the issue over the coming months, especially  following Liam Byrne’s indication that a futue Labour government would still make savings by cutting benefits in some areas.

The crisis in the care system also featured in the speech, with Mr. Milband telling those assembled that older people in our society deserve greater dignity. We can expect more from Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham when he give his address later on today.

There was also a promise of fairness in the tax system (echoing Nick Clegg’s focus in Brighton last week) and a fresh crack down on employers who exploit workers by not paying the minimum wage.

Following the speech things are a bit quieter around the conference venue, but there are still plenty of debates and discussions to be had before things draw to a close on Thursday…..

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Adult social care was also the focus of a lively afternoon fringe meeting featuring Shadow Health Minister Jamie Reed. During the meeting several representatives of the care and support sector emphasised that whilst funding cannot be ignored, the starting point of all care policy should be protecting the dignity and wellbeing of the vulnerable. It is certainly a compelling stance given the shocking level of unmet need amongst both older and disabled people.

Later our focus shifted to food banks and wider issues of welfare, meeting with representatives of the Trussel Trust and FareShare. The proliferation of food banks across the country is one of the most prominent signs of the genuine hardship faced by tens of thousands of families. Churches are already playing a key role in providing this vital safety net but there is still a lot to be done.

Throughout the day a clearer picture also emerged of Labour policies on some key social issues. Liam Byrne announced a Youth Jobs Taskforce to address unemployment amongst young people; Caroline Flint announced a ‘big switch’ campaign to get customers a fairer deal on energy prices; and Mary Creagh promised active support for initiatives to tackle food waste via provision to charities and food banks.

On Wednesday they’ll be joined by Andy Burnham laying out his vision for social care and of course tomorrow Ed Miliband will be making his own keynote speech…..watch this space!

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The day began for us at the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) Conference Service where we heard a strong message of social justice as well as some very good music! CSM is the formal Christian grouping within the Labour party and includes a decent number of Catholic parliamentarians and party members, along with lots of our friends from other Churches. Quite a few of the MPs at the service will also be coming to meet our member charities at the CSAN Parliamentary event later this year.

Think-tanks Demos and Respublica held a good first-day fringe on ‘broken society or broken politics’ where Tottenham MP David Lammy was speaking. There was lively discussion about finding a new form of liberalism that works for the people, and what part ethics plays in this. Consensus on such a broad topic was, perhaps predictably, not forthcoming.

Meanwhile the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) meeting examined the succeses and shortcoming of the work programme so far. Supporting a professional employment support workforce, and developing adequate assistance for groups such as disabled people and ex-offenders, emerged as some of the biggest challenges.

In the evening we headed to a series of events by the New Statesman, Save the Children and the Care and Support Alliance. Conversation ranged from the effects of welfare reform on local councils to the importance of Church advocacy on child poverty. It was particularly interesting to see Save the Children’s incresing focus on young people on the UK, in the face of benefit cuts and increasing economic hardship.

Today we have meetings with various charities working for older people, as well as Liam Byrne’s speech on Labour’s work and pensions policy. More on that later…..

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