David Cameron’s poverty-stricken Britain has made food banks a way of life for hungry children

Last Updated: December 13, 2015By

Once again, Iain Duncan Smith is the villain of the day.
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Will he admit his guilt? Unlikely. He would probably shrug off any claims about Conservative policy and his DWP, saying he doesn’t recognise the assertions made about them.

But refusing to admit links between Tory policies and food banks doesn’t mean those links aren’t there.

It just means the Gentleman Ranker is a liar or a fool, or both.

Britain is no longer shocked about food poverty. Now, we just donate our tins with the weekly shop.

Food banks are becoming an institution through which the state gets to wash its hands of hunger, exactly as campaigners feared two years ago.

What is shameful is that for two years the government has wilfully chosen to ignore almost every poverty charity in the country.

Feeding Britain is currently the only single body thinking at government level about the scourge of food poverty. Its second excellent report released yesterday is full of more life-changing ideas. It calls for a network of “social supermarkets” selling cheap food, and to end levels of food waste the Archbishop described as “shocking”.

The authors’ idea of using part of a sugar tax to feed hungry children over the school holidays could make an immeasurable difference.

But there is a DWP-sized elephant in the room. “Our evidence suggests that the prompt delivery of benefit and tax credit payments in full, coupled with a fair and effective sanctions regime, would more than halve the numbers of people relying on emergency food parcels,” the report says.

In other words, the DWP has the power to halve food poverty immediately just by doing its job better.

Worse still, Iain Duncan Smith ’s new flagship Universal Credit actually BUILDS IN a shocking 42-day delay before ­families receive benefits. The last Feeding Britain report recommended the longest number of days a family could possibly stand is five.

Source: David Cameron’s poverty-stricken Britain has made food banks a way of life for hungry children – Mirror Online

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7 Comments

  1. malcolm December 13, 2015 at 2:22 am - Reply

    And still we do nothing but talk,myself included !

    • Mike Sivier December 13, 2015 at 12:41 pm - Reply

      Talking is important – we need to persuade the acquiescent masses that they need to get up and demand change.

  2. Matthew Goldsmith December 13, 2015 at 1:32 pm - Reply

    I heard stopping and sanctioning benefit should be a legal matter for the courts and should’t be done by staff who have no expertise in investigating if for example someone is committing benefit fraud. I assume if it was more democratic, they would have to pass on there concerns to a professional investigator who would decide if it is worth pursuing.

  3. Michael Broadhurst December 13, 2015 at 3:38 pm - Reply

    this shameful and appalling govt want bringing to task in some way,

  4. amnesiaclinic December 13, 2015 at 5:50 pm - Reply

    What makes it even more tragic is that it could so easily be alleviated by the DWP itself so we ought to be raising this with our MP’s. It is going to be even worse with Universal (no) Credit as families will need to wait 42 days for benefits to kick in. That is over a month and in the winter.
    We would do far better to go over to the new Finnish system of eventually scrapping the whole benefits system and everyone have a decent basic citizens income.
    No argument, no forms and more dignity for all.

  5. Chris December 13, 2015 at 8:53 pm - Reply

    I’ve been waiting 2 years for my assessment for JSA, after being diagnosed with Primary Progreesive MS, unfortunately, I’m unable to work, first time in my life, I spent almost 6 months with no money, often letting my son eat instead of me, this has to stop………..it’s a shame the same courtesy is showed to me, as I showed when I served 9 years in the military when I was younger,

  6. mrmarcpc December 15, 2015 at 4:22 pm - Reply

    They’re a way of life for many people, not just kids, adults are suffering too, it’s a disgrace!

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