Present woe is nothing new

MP Alison Thewliss may be appalled at a family in her constituency not being able to afford presents for their children at Christmas, but sadly this is not a new phenomenon (“Warning as family ‘no cash to buy presents’”, The Herald, December 21). In 35 years in social work, across a number of local authorities in Scotland, staff in children and family teams spent a significant amount of time gathering and distributing toys for children or referring families to charities who could give assistance.

Sadly Ms Thewliss must have led a sheltered life to find this appalling rather than the reality of the kind of society the UK has always been.

Politicians are ultimately driven by retaining power and will never properly address the issue of poverty as long as it will cost them votes at the ballot box. For current evidence of that you only need to refer to Theresa May’s already broken promise to help the working poor and the failure of the First Minister to deliver a budget that will make a difference to inequality. William Eadie, 8F Hazelden Park, Glasgow.