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Chancellor Philip Hammond has rejected UN claims that vast numbers of Britons are living in poverty.
Mr Hammond hit out at a study by UN special rapporteur Philip Alston that blamed austerity for increasing poverty levels.
The report by the special rapporteur claimed that a fifth of the British population, 14 million people, live in poverty, and 1.5 million experienced destitution in 2017.
The Chancellor told BBC2’s Newsnight: “I reject the idea that there are vast numbers of people facing dire poverty in this country.
“I don’t accept the UN rapporteur’s report at all. I think that’s a nonsense.
“Look around you, that’s not what we see in this country.
“Of course there are people struggling with the cost of living. I understand that.
“But the point being is that we are addressing these things through getting to the root causes.”
In the report released last month, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty said the UK has violated its human rights obligations through sustained and widespread cuts to social support.
A source close to Mr Hammond said: “The Chancellor was referring to Philip Alston’s report on poverty, which others in government have described as ‘barely believable’ documentation and based on a short period of time in this country.
“It doesn’t reflect where we are now, with the number of people in absolute poverty falling by 400,00 since 2010, nor does it paint an accurate picture of our approach to poverty.”
