by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Almost 350,000 people, including 120,000 children, have received at least three days; meals from food banks in the past 12 months.
Welfare reforms, which came into force in April 2013, will force an even greater number of people into hunger it is feared.
Food banks are, basically, seeing people from all backgrounds and walks of life – working people on their lunch breaks, mothers going hungry to feed their children, people whose benefits have been delayed and those struggling to find enough work (to make ends meet).
It is more than shocking that people are going hungry in the 21st century in Britain but then the Con-Dem coalition seems to be hellbent to return the country to Victorian “values”. Expect the workhouses to reappear again soon.
The busiest food banks in Britain are not in the poor North but in the South-West of England, the South-East and in London and nearly half of all food bank recipients blamed benefit problems.
This could just be the proverbial tip of the iceberg and a beginning, a sign of times to come. A perfect storm is brewing with spiralling living costs, lack of affordable housing, lack of decent and secure jobs and benefit changes.
Further changes to the British welfare system are in the pipeline and offing which could rip the safety net to shreds with devastating consequences.
In spite of all the evidence the government keeps claiming that the benefit system provides “a safety net for essentials such as food”, even though its own Department of Word & Pensions began referring people to food banks as far back as 2011. and it has the audacity to add to this claim that “our welfare reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in the country”.
How? By killing them? In what parallel universe are those politicians and civil servants are actually living? It sure is not on this Planet.
We do not need a new government; we need a new system.
© 2013
