Ministers must end the scourge of food poverty
SIR – Today The Trussell Trust revealed that it provided more than two million emergency food parcels to people facing financial hardship in the past year. Alarmingly, over 830,000 of these went to children.
This paints a bleak picture of too many families struggling to afford the bare essentials such as food and heating. My diocese includes areas of significant need, and I hear from parents who are already at breaking point, skipping meals to feed their children. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, the plight of people on the lowest incomes will get worse.
Sadly, destitution is not a new problem in Britain. From 2017 to 2019, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported a 54 per cent increase in the number of people unable to afford the essentials. The level of emergency food support needed in a country as wealthy as ours simply isn’t right.
Britain is the fifth richest country in the world and our social security system should be strong enough for all of us to rely on when we need a lifeline – because, as the pandemic showed, life is full of things we can’t plan for. Surely we all want to live in a society where we look after one another.
Having seen the work churches do in our communities on food provision and debt advice, I call on the Government to choose to protect people who need support, to act with compassion, and to put in place a social security system that helps people afford the essentials in life – like food. Rt Rev Paul Butler
Bishop of Durham
SIR – A 91-year-old friend pays more than 20 per cent of his state pension on his monthly energy bill. In October, his bills will rise. Soon it really will be an “eat or heat” situation for many people. This cannot be allowed to happen. Paul Caruana
Truro, Cornwall
SIR – We were promised levelling up. Where is it? Heating costs in the North are much higher than in the South, yet we have been penalised with increased fuel bills. Education opportunities are much worse. Just look at entries to Oxbridge. It is almost impossible to move south because of the disparity in housing costs. NHS waiting lists are also much longer here.
When the bankers defaulted we printed money. Why can’t this be done now to ease bills and other costs, and to avoid a looming recession?
Dr Allan Ashworth
York