Nearly 1M people in the UK rely on emergency food aid
According to the latest Trussell Trust figures, a whopping 913,000 people received three days’ emergency aid in 2013–14, compared to 346,000 in the previous year.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said the figure highlighted that the UK was suffering the worst living standards since the Victorian era.
“There will be no sighs of relief from families struggling to get by in the face of the biggest squeeze in living standards since the Victorian era,” he said.
“With the retail price index at 2.5% and wage growth at 1.4%, excluding bonuses, the squeeze continues leaving ordinary people bewildered at the self-congratulatory tone of the government that has presided over the growing shame of food bank Britain.”
Criticism
Social media erupted with criticism for the UK government being forced to hand out nearly 1M meals, despite being the sixth richest country in the world.
The Labour party led the attacks on the PM David Cameron and his current government, tweeting:
.@David_Cameron’s cost-of-living crisis: 913,138 people forced to rely on food banks to eat. Speak out: http://t.co/OsGYgEHEBT
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) April 20, 2014Labour Left’s founder Eoin Clarke claimed the problem was bigger than the Trussell Trust figures highlighted, as only 37% of food banks in the UK are run by the firm.
There are 1,080 food banks in the UK and PM David Cameron turned down £300M free EU cash to fund them, Clarke claimed.
63% of Food Banks are non-Trussell Trust and as such are 100% excluded from today's Food Bank usage statistics.
— Eoin Clarke (@DrEoinCl) April 16, 2014Labour Party secretary for Camberwell and Peckham, national executive committee member and campaign organiser for The Lane Branch Labour Party Johanna Baxter branded the government as shameful.
More than a million using food banks & we're 6th largest economy. Shameful. (via @DailyMirror) pic.twitter.com/79XDHmafvv
— Johanna Baxter (@JohannaBaxter) April 15, 2014MP for Tottenham David Lammy used the social networking site to draw attention to a “staggering rise” in the amount of people in London forced to use food banks, which he claimed had increased by 127% in the past year to 95,639.
My analysis of new data shows staggering rise in number of people using #London food banks - up 127% from last year.http://t.co/sqrQTJg63v
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 17, 2014‘Travesty’
“It is a travesty in any city when people have to rely on food banks in order to survive, but even more so in one of the wealthiest cities on Earth,” Lammy added on his website. “Data shows that the main cause of emergency foodbank usage is the government’s benefit strategy and the shambolic implementation of its welfare reforms.
“Almost one in two Londoners forced to use foodbanks do so because of changes or delays in their benefit payments. The coalition is not only doing nothing to help Londoners living in in-work poverty – it is actively making their lives harder.”
Nearly 900,000 young people are currently on the dole in the UK, with 1M only able to find part-time work.
But it wasn’t just politicians and journalists that were enraged by the figures. Comedian Chris Addison also took to Twitter to raise the issue of food banks and point holes in Cameron’s sympathies with Christianity.
The problem with food banks is not that people can get food from them too easily, the problem is WE NEED FOOD BANKS.
— Chris Addison (@mrchrisaddison) April 20, 2014Like, say, running food banks. MT @David_Cameron: Today is a day for the whole country to celebrate what Christianity brings to Britain.
— Chris Addison (@mrchrisaddison) April 20, 2014
