Poverty is Scottish scandal of 2016

WE should all still be shocked that starving families across the country need emergency help every single day.

Sadly, the situation has become so commonplace that this shameful situation no longer shocks.

It’s a disgusting indictement of Tory policies that have abandoned the most vulnerable.

Now another symptom of that failure has arrived in the shape of a fuel bank.

The Trussell Trust and energy giants npower have set up Scotland’s first such facility at Glasgow’s South East Food Bank.

They will provide those struggling with pre-payment vouchers for gas or electricity so they do not have to choose between heating and eating.

You cannot, of course, just turn up for a hand-out. Like food bank clients, you have to be referred by local authorities or professionals.

That shows it isn’t those on the make who are taking food, it is people on the breadline. And it could happen to any of us. All it would take is a stroke of bad luck – a redundancy or unexpected bout of ill health – and the family could be thrown into poverty.

The solution is to make sure there are decent jobs and policies in place that make sure employers pay proper wages. And a welfare safety net that is worth the name. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. It is an absolute scandal that food banks and fuel banks have to exist in 2016 Scotland.

And a blessed relief for thousands that they do.