In the UK, hunger has emerged as an important election issue

As the UK heads for the polls next month in a bid to solve the parliament gridlock over Brexit, hunger and the mushrooming of food banks across the country have emerged as an important election issue. A report published Tuesday shows that cuts to social benefits and 10 years of Conservative Party austerity have led to a 73 per cent rise in the use of food banks in the fifth largest economy in the world. Around 2 per cent of households in the UK are now reliant on charity handouts to put food on the table, and around 10 per cent of the population now “food insecure” according to the report published by the UK’s largest food bank operator, the Trussell Trust. Compiled for the charity by academics at Heriot Watt University, “The State of Hunger 2019” report is the result of three years of study and the first of its kind to be published in the UK. The researchers found the number of food banks run by the Trussell Trust mushroomed from 57 in 2010 to 424 today. The total number of food banks run by religious groups and charities across the UK is estimated to be around 2,000. One in 50 UK households used a food bank in 2018-19, the study estimated, while at least 3 million food parcels were given out – highlighting the rise in charity welfare and the impact of austerity cuts since the start of the decade, when only a small number of food banks existed. The report found that 94 per cent of people using them were destitute, meaning they couldn’t afford to eat regularly or buy clothed or toiletries. Almost three-quarters of people at food banks live in households struggling with poor physical or mental health or other disability. Single mothers make up 22 per cent of food bank users, many of them in part-time work. UK shoppers stockpile food, spend less in pubs and restaurants as Brexit nears “The majority of users of food banks are unemployed and on welfare, but the growing group who have to rely on them to feed their families is the working poor, those with little cash left for food after other bills have been paid,” said Martin Caraher, Professor of Food and Health Policy at City University in London. “Food banks are now part of the landscape and have some function but, in my opinion, they undermine the welfare state. When people who aren’t members of local religious or community groups have to use them because they have no other choice it becomes a problem.” Just how ingrained food banks have become in the British welfare system was symbolised by the publication last week of a children’s book by the illustrator Kate Milner called No Money Day, that tells the story of a single mum and her child who have to visit one. One of the drivers behind the increase in food poverty in the UK was the introduction in 2013 of a new benefit system known as universal credit, which marked the biggest overhaul of the social security system since the introduction of the welfare state in 1945. It brought most government means-tested welfare payments under one funding channel, which was unique in that it allowed people to work. However, universal credit has been widely criticised because it pays monthly rather than weekly, and claimants have to wait for five weeks before the first payment. A benefits cap that withdrew support for families with more than two children also came under fire in the Trussell Trust report. Will Britain run out of toilet paper after no-deal Brexit? MPs seek answers Rent and local tax debt is another major reason that forces people to seek help from food banks, the report found. “People are being locked into extreme poverty and pushed to the doors of food banks. Hunger in the UK isn’t about food – it’s about people not having enough money,” said Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust. “People are trying to get by on £50 (US$64) a week, and that’s just not enough for the essentials, let alone a decent standard of living, Any of us could be hit by a health issue or job loss – the difference is what happens when that hits. “We created a benefits system because we’re a country that believes in making sure financial support is there for each other if it’s needed. The question that naturally arises, then, is why the incomes of people at food banks are so low, despite being supported by that benefits system?” Children are unduly affected. And while it is the responsibility of local authorities to provide school meals if required, government cuts mean they are also strapped of funds to face the problem. According to the Child Poverty Action Group, 43 per cent of children in households with more than three live in poverty, the highest rate in the EU. In the London borough of Tower Hamlets, home to the financial district of Canary Wharf and the new Chinese embassy, child poverty is 58 per cent, the highest in the country. High rents and low wages, or irregular contracts, as well as child benefit caps which have hit the borough’s large Bangladeshi population particularly hard, are the main reasons for the high rate. Last year the British government received unprecedented criticism from the UN for continuing austerity measures imposed in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis. “For almost one in every two children to be poor in 21st century Britain is not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster,” said Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty. Boris Johnson slammed for not releasing report on Russian meddling in British politics in time for coming election If elected, the Labour Party has pledged to phase out universal credit, halve the number of food banks in the UK in a year, and phase them out altogether in three years. Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn made the announcement in the north-east London suburb of Chingford where the sitting Conservative MP is Ian Duncan-Smith, the mastermind behind the welfare cuts. “Universal credit has been an unmitigated disaster,” said Corbyn. “As well as being behind schedule and over budget it is inhumane and cruel, driving people into poverty and hardship. “Social security is supposed to give people dignity and respect, not punish and police them, make them wait five weeks for the first payment or fill out a four-page form to prove their child was born as a result of rape. One of the particularly harsh aspects of the two-child policy is if the mother wants to claim support for other children, they have to prove the child was conceived against their will. The Liberal Democrats, who as part of the coalition government between 2010 and 2015 helped to introduce universal credit and the cap on benefits for larger families, say they will reform the system, by cutting the amount of time new claimants have to wait to five days. The UK government admits there have been flaws in the system, but claims overall the reforms have helped bring down the number of jobless.

In the UK, hunger has emerged as an important election issue

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} One in 50 UK households used a food bank in 2018-19, while at least 3 million food parcels were given out If elected, the Labour Party has pledged to phase out food banks in three years

One in 50 UK households used a food bank in 2018-19, while at least 3 million food parcels were given out

If elected, the Labour Party has pledged to phase out food banks in three years