A noble ambition - Stick to the poverty plan

IN ANY downturn, the weakest, those with the smallest, most easily silenced voice, are always the most vulnerable.

A mere 15 months ago, before we got jittery, the Programme for Government 2007-2012 committed us to reducing consistent poverty to between 2% and 4% of the population by 2012 and to eliminating it by 2016. Eliminating poverty is a spectacular ambition and a challenge worthy of our very best efforts. The Combat Poverty Agency published its annual report yesterday and advocated that our economic situation should not be used to curtail those ambitions.

We all know that the agency is right and that to welch on such a noble statement of intent would be wrong and cowardly.