This is the empty cabinet pathetic Tories should be worrying about
Foodbanks in crisis as donations shrivel up
EXCLUSIVE
Candidates boast about tax cut but no mention of
hungry kids
by Rachel Howarth, Nigel Bunyan and Laura Connor FOODBANKS are facing empty cabinets – while rich Tories hungry to be Prime Minister battle for Boris Johnson’s job.
As out-of-touch politicians worth more than a combined £300million clamour for the top job, eight in 10 food banks now rely on back-up funds to feed ever-more desperate families.
Fourteen million Brits in poverty face being plunged further into deprivation as the cost-of-living crisis worsens, with energy bills predicted to hit £3,363 a year.
Yet this week it was revealed that Prime Minster Johnson spent £7,000 on a rug and £3,675 on a drinks trolley as part of his No.10 refurb.
Terrible
In NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, donations to the East End Women foodbank began to dry up in March. Last month they posted an appeal on Facebook with pictures of near-empty shelves.
Dawn Emmerson, who helps run the service, said: “As soon as donations come in, they go straight out again.”
Last night Liam Byrne, Labour MP for one of Britain’s poorest constituencies, HODGE HILL IN BIRMINGHAM, acccused the Tories of being out of touch.
He said: “While the Tory party is running a beauty parade of multi-millionaires to be its next leader, the candidates are boasting about their plans for tax cuts for the richest – yet not one has mentioned the crisis of children going hungry. It tells you everything you need to know about a party out of touch and out of time.” Tanisha Bramwell, who runs Bramwells foodbank, hit by falling donations in DEWSBURY, WEST YORKS, said: “After a decade of Tory government we’ve got more foodbanks than Mcdonald’s takeaways.
“Boris was terrible, but I don’t see any of this lot being any better.”
Among leadership contenders so far are Rishi Sunak, who has a personal wealth of around £200million and £720m when combined with his wife’s riches.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, worth an estimated £100m, is expected to join the race along with ex-health minister Jeremy Hunt, worth around £14m.
Britain has more than 2,500 foodbanks
compared to 1,300 Mcdonald’s. And four out of five of the food lifelines have seen donations fall this year as families focus on looking after themselves amid increasing energy bills, soaring food costs and the biggest inflation rate in four decades.
A 500G tub of Lurpak butter in Iceland now costs £5 – up from £3.50.
Ignored
Labour MP Ian Byrne, for LIVERPOOL WEST DERBY, said: “I delivered a letter to Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson about food poverty but I was ignored.
“A man whose family is worth over half a billion pounds has got no idea about food insecurity.”
Foodbanks across the country are making desperate appeals to help starving families. Carol Kilgannon of Helping Hands Changing Lives CIC in
WARRINGTON, CHESHIRE, said: “Some families are travelling from food hub to food hub just to survive.”
The group used to send two vans to
Morrisons to pick up donations but it now fits in the boot of one car.
The Trussell Trust, which works closely with independent foodbanks, says demand has surged since the £20 Universal Credit cut last October.
Even the Salvation Army, which operates in around 650 communities and is supported by major supermarkets, is struggling to stay afloat in some areas.
Christine Siddall, who runs the Hart foodbank in FLEET, HAMPSHIRE, said the Tories must come up with an urgent plan to help hard-up families.
She said:“i wonder how many of the candidates know how much a pint of milk or a loaf of bread is?”
In SOUTH MANCHESTER Steph Moore, who runs Reach Out to the Community, says the situation is scary, forcing them to ration supplies.
Hana Hainsby, who runs a foodbank in the historic market town of BISHOP’S
STORTFORD, HERTS, highlighted the irony that the area has a Waitrose and a private school – yet has seen a big rise in people seeking food parcels.
In PENDLE, LANCS, Pendle Food For All was forced to temporarily close its doors this week for lack of supplies.
A Government spokesman said: “We are protecting the eight million most vulnerable families with at least £1,200 of direct payments this year.’
Meanwhile ministers who quit to oust Mr Johnson are being urged by the Lib Dems to offer their severance pay to fund free school meals over summer.
Resigning frontbenchers are entitled to 25% of annual salary. The expected £245,487 bill for taxpayers could fund a meal for over 80,000 children.
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