What is poverty?

According to Barnardos:

"The main poverty line used in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union is a relative poverty measure, a level of income set at 60 per cent of the median household income."

So for Barnados poverty is a relative measure, which makes the end of the Barnados article all the more interesting:

"In 1999, the then Prime Minister, Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, made an historic pledge to end child poverty within a generation – by 2020. The milestones along the way involve reducing child poverty by 25 per cent by 2004/05 and halving it by 2010."

If poverty is a relative measure then how can child poverty be ended? Presumably Tony Blair was as serious about this promise as most of his others...

Barnados then report on "How are we doing?":

"* The first target to lift 1 million children out of poverty by 2004/05, was missed by 300,000. It will now be even harder to reduce poverty as the easiest to reach families have already been helped.
* To meet the 2010 target, the number of children in poverty must fall to 1.7 million, currently 2.9 million (before housing costs). On current policies this will not be achieved."

How appalling, the UK is failing to meet an artificially set impossible target to cut poverty. So why set the target? The answer come next: "What else do we need to do?"

"* In order to meet the 2010 target, £3 billion must be invested in tax credits. In order to meet the target, this money must, at the very latest, be committed in the 2009 budget.
* Meeting the 2020 target will take much more than simple redistribution. Focusing on making work pay; sustainable and progressive jobs; and adequate, appropriate and affordable childcare will be vital."

Some good old-fashioned Labour redistribution of income allied with increasing the size of Gordon Brown's Labour voting client-state; doesn't it make you proud to be British?