Desperate families need food banks for survival

A few quick dispatches from the on-going war against the poor which is the distraction technique being deployed by the Tories to ensure that entrenched systems of injustice and inequality escape scrutiny.

Food banks

The use of food banks has increased massively since the Coalition came into power. The Trussell Trust  issued food to 26,000 people in 2008-09 – this year the number was 346,992. In the last 12 months, food bank use has risen by 170%, and 36.3% of those helped were children.

Welfare Minister Lord Freud said it was “absolutely appropriate” that people use them.

The Haze isn’t quite sure what that even means – other than when you’re starving its good to try and find some food. Do we need peers of the realm to tell us this? Some of us still remember when the Welfare State provided a safety net and THAT was appropriate.

The explosion in the use of food banks runs alongside the news that the Red Cross now distributes food parcels in the UK for the first time since WWII.

The Trusell Trust called  for a crisis meeting with Iain Duncan Smith, the Minister for Work and Pensions to try and find some practical solutions to children going without food in the UK – one can only admire their positive naivety in a way. -The request got a predictably venomous and dismissive response. IDS accused  the trust of  “scaremongering” and went on to say

“I understand that a feature of your business model must require you to continuously achieve publicity, but I’m concerned that you are now seeking to do this by making your political opposition to welfare reform overtly clear.”

Since the words ‘welfare reform’ under this Coalition are simply code words for ‘attack the poor’ its not surprising that IDS is irritated that an organisation dealing with the real  life consequences of his ‘reforms’ should want to talk to him. Organisations that help the poor should do so quietly lest anyone find out just how busy they are these days.

IDS will also be annoyed that another uppity bunch Church Action on Poverty has released a parody of the old Tory ‘Labour isn’t working’ poster which reads ‘Britain isn’t Eating’  – they also turned up outside George Osborne’s constituency office in Knutsford to deliver 120 Christmas cards from users of foodbanks across Greater Manchester – together with a copy of the Walking the Breadline report the tagline of which reads: ‘the scandal of food poverty in 21st century Britain’ which was first published back in May.

Homelessness

According to the Homelessness Monitor published by Crisis, homelessness in England – including rough sleeping – is rising fast.

* Rough sleeping in England rose 6 per cent in 2013, compared with 23 per cent in 2011. In London, there was a rise of 13 per cent in recorded rough sleeping in 2012/13, pushing the two-year increase to over 60 per cent.

* There are sharply rising numbers being made homeless by the loss of private-sector tenancies, accounting for 22 per cent of all homelessness acceptances at national level in 2012/13. This is now the single largest cause of statutory homelessness in London.

* Temporary accommodation placements, according to Crisis, rose 10 per cent during 2012/13, with B&B placements rising even faster (14 per cent). “Out of district” temporary accommodation placements have doubled since 2010.

More dispatches will inevitably follow…