Charles Kennedy

Research indicates that food poverty and the growth of the number of food banks, while often being due to cash shortages and short term crisis, is brought about by many complex and overlapping reasons.

There is no single cause and no simple solution. Whilst the response by civil society and faith groups in supporting vulnerable people in society has been impressive and should be supported our society is not one that should rely on this.

It is therefore essential that all layers of government ensure that vulnerable members of our society have access to the support that is there to help them should they fall into crisis.

For those in need of extra support we provide a strong safety net through the welfare system. More broadly, however, there is a need to start tackling the underlying causes that lead people into crisis. It is evident, as reported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, that simply increasing the value of benefits without addressing the root cause of poverty simply wont work.

We need to look at the key reasons behind poverty and continue to build a strong economy that is able to tackle the number one cause of poverty – worklessness.

The introduction of the new minimum wage has already directly benefited over one million workers and securing the long-term sustainability of the Scottish Economy is at the heart of Conservative Industrial strategy. Nationalist neglect of the Scottish economy, as they concentrated on their obsession with independence, has resulted in our economic growth in Scotland lagging behind the rest of the UK. A strong economy is essential .