The problem of poverty

Sir,- Anglo-Americans like having wars on things such a drugs, climate change, poverty, and so on, perhaps because it make us sound as if we are fighting for a noble cause.

I think most would agree that Richard Nixon’s war on drugs has been catastrophic while Al Gore’s war on climate change has been an expensive waste of time.

LBJ declared war on poverty in 1964 but more than half a century later it has clearly failed and not since the Great Depression have so many lived in long-term extremis.

With the Kirk poised to

A new service is being offered and naturally people are using it but defining poverty as having less than 60% of median income means the “poor” will indeed always be with us

resurrect its own version - Make Poverty History my letter of May 6 was simply a reflection on how things stand.

What most people don’t know is that UK citizens on benefits today are better off, in absolute terms, than those on average wages in the 1930s.

William Beveridge’s five giant evils were: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease.

His welfare state solved want and disease, leaving ignorance, sloth and irresponsibility.

As regards foodbanks, gauging the real level of “food poverty” (apparently a special kind of poverty which relates solely to food) is not easy.

A new service is being offered and naturally people are using it but defining poverty as having less than 60% of median income means the “poor” will indeed always be with us.

Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.