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Archbishop criticizes UK austerity cuts as ‘disgrace’

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The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has renewed his attack on the coalition government’s austerity cuts, describing them as a “disgrace” for Britain.

Speaking from the Archbishop’s House in Westminster on Tuesday, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal-designate Vincent Nicholas, said something is going “seriously wrong” when people in a country as rich as the UK are left in a destitute situation.

“The fact that people are left in destitution is a disgrace. The fact of people left for weeks on end without any support and therefore having to have recourse for food banks in a country as affluent as our, is a disgrace, “ he said.

The religious authority also noted that during the last couple of days, he has been inundated with messages of support for criticizing the Tory-led government’s austerity measures in an interview with The Telegraph on Saturday.

The Archbishop is expected to be made a Cardinal by Pope Francis in Italy this weekend.

The UK’s coalition adopted the austerity measures in order to tackle the country’s mounting debt and sluggish growth, but the policies have sparked public protests in recent years.

In December last year, British Chancellor George Osborne also announced in his Autumn Statement that Whitehall departments will face additional budget cuts totaling £3 billion up to the end of the financial year 2015-16.

Last month, the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the British Queen and other royals need to cut their running costs and generate more income.

According to reports, Queen Elizabeth II received 36 million pounds in Sovereign Grant, the annual expenditure by the taxpayer in support of the Queen’s official duties, last year, which is 5 million pounds more than what she received in 2012.

This is while government departments have been facing average cuts of 19 percent in the three years to 2013.

The cuts also have severely hit the poorest households in the country, forcing many of them to choose between paying for food or energy.

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