Are Tories blind to foodbank shame?
■ I have donated to your Christmas foodbank appeal and I hope many others will do too. It beggars belief that in Britain in the 21st century millions of needy families will rely on food parcels over the festive season (Mirror, December 12).
This Tory Government should hang their heads in shame at the desperate state of this country which is the fifth richest in the world, but all they do is argue amongst themselves over Brexit.
So, while they tear themselves apart we must push for a new Labour government that actually cares about hard-working people. Carole Stubbs, Barnsley
South Yorks
■ Brexit is a very important issue, yes, but we must not allow the Tories to be let off the hook over their evil policies. Millions of families will have to rely on foodbanks this Christmas because of the hated Universal Credit, the NHS is falling apart and OAPs are having to choose between heating or eating. We must not relax our push for fairness and to rid ourselves of this Government.
D J Sewell, Redcar, Cleveland
■ Where the hell do we go from here? The Tories are in complete chaos with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit in less than four months.
This would push people into even more poverty, while we see record numbers using foodbanks and homelessness is rife. I went to a local Dickens Day that’s held every year and we will return to those days if this shower get their way.
We need to be more like the French, and if that means riots and mayhem then so be it. Remember what happened to Thatcher?
Dave Mellor, Warrington
■ The suffering caused by Universal Credit is a damning indictment of this Government whose austerity policies are creating unnecessary misery and poverty. The statistics from the likes of the National Audit Office, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust bear this out, but will the Government listen to them? No. They think they have a fair and compassionate benefit system. It’s not people who create poverty, it’s governments.
Mick Rutland Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside
People are having to rely on foodbanks and are going into massive debt as a direct result of Universal Credit. The Tories say it is value for money for the taxpayers, but they have spent billions on it and still can’t get the IT right.
This benefit does nothing but cause heartache and stress. ■ Politicians have done little over recent decades other than feather their own nests. We shout about this and the ever-widening gap between the rich and working people who are barely managing, but nothing ever changes.
It’s all too much like Nero fiddling while Rome burned. But that is what the policy-makers are doing – fiddling a rosy future for themselves while the rest of us are rudely ignored.
Pete Draper, Sheffield