Poverty on the rampage as top bosses gorge

OVER Christmas, my husband and I took hampers to people who were struggling.

There was food in them, of course, and some other bits and pieces.

My husband just turned 62. He supports Chelsea. He’s what is known as a tough old bastard.

But our visits left him in tears and haunted him all over Christmas.

There was one house in Swansea in particular where the kids – little kids – came out on to the street to say thanks.

Their faces were lit up. And it was because we had given them a box of Christmas crackers.

Suffering

My husband couldn’t believe such a simple present could cause such joy. He wanted to go and buy toys straight away but I told him if we did it for them we’d have to do it for everyone.

We live in a country where so many people are going without and yet the rich seem to be doing OK.

This week saw Fat Cat Friday, when – just four days into the new year – bosses had already earned more money than the average worker.

The fatcats who run UK banks and companies have pay packets that average about £3.9million each.

That’s £1,000 per hour – as opposed to £7.38.

It’s too much. Especially when people are suffering.

The Trussell Trust has reported that foodbank usage has risen by more than 13 per cent in a year in the wake of Universal Credit and austerity.

Every day my constituency office will be visited by someone still awaiting their first UC payment, someone who has had their Personal Independence Payments for disability stopped, people being fined for debt, pushing them into further debt. The list goes on.

There are many reasons that bring people to my door but the thing most have in common is they leave my office with a food parcel from our makeshift stationery cupboard-come-foodbank.

We had a mother of four come to us who broke down in tears.

She had been hiding her struggles for months and was going without food

WHILE Sajid Javid finally cut short his holiday – bless him – desperate and vulnerable individuals were left open not only to traffickers but the dangers of crossing the Channel in little more than a rowing boat.

Get real, Home Secretary.

With desperate souls risking death, and No10 giving you briefings while you’re out of the country, it is shameful you stayed away for as long as you did. so she could feed her kids. On Christmas week she finally turned to emergency food parcels.

We managed to sort her out and the girls from the office delivered bags of shopping to her home. They told me when they got there it was warmer out on the street than in that family’s house.

It was stories like this that got the community going over Christmas.

Together we put on two Christmas parties – with Santa – where kids could have a hot meal and entertainment.

And we held tea parties for pensioners, gave out toiletries and cosmetics and made sure no one was going hungry or lonely.

It felt like everyone was getting involved – the local police, organisations like Faith in Families and Second Chance, and Morrisons helped out with food and deliveries.

It was great to see everyone coming together, especially around Christmas and especially for the children.

It reminded me of the saying: “It takes a village to raise a child.”

That was never more true. ONE of my New Year’s resolutions is to lose a bit of weight. I’m going to walk into work in London through St James’s Park.

That’ll have the added side-effect of giving me time to do some plotting. I’m determined to make things better for people this year and get some work done in Parliament.

I’m not going to let these Brexit dementors beat me.