Oxfam has warned that the country is fast becoming a nation of ‘FREDs'; Forgotten by those in power, Ripped off by taxes and the benefits system, Excluded from opportunities, and Debt ridden. Raising the threshold for paying income tax is one of the measures they propose; in a report warning that the recession is forcing many more Britons into poverty.

Read Oxfam's report ‘Close to Home, UK poverty and the economic downturn'.