And now we have food banks . . .

[longwayoff]

Just saw Lenny Henry reminiscing 30 years of Comic Relief. And, as he said,if you'd told him then he'd be here years later raising money for food banks in the UK he would have refused to believe it. Quite rightly, me too. We're still one if the wealthiest countries in the world. Why aren't we more ashamed of this disgraceful development?

I see as usual the benefit/poor bashers are out in force, studiously ignoring those who've cited facts and figures about the sheer scale of this problem compared to the past, and what it means for our society. You people disgust me, loathsome, hard-hearted, smug, self-centred, ignorant, fact-avoiding bastards.

And yes OP it's shameful, but clearly according to the smug the country's full of boozing, cigarette-smoking children who depend on these kinds of resources if we accept the ill-informed opinion of these poor-deniers: the mentality of some of these people on this thread, why don't you lobby to bring back the workhouse and be done with?

Benefits should be a last resort. People shouldn't have children if they can't afford them without benefits.

Does this include tax credits, which supplement low wages? If so, only middle-income and above can afford children then.

People shouldn't get benefits just because they have children.

Even though these people are likely to need income supplementation the most, especially those in low wage jobs.

If this happened disabled people would be able to have much higher benefits.

Yes, of course, the State will redirect the funds to the disabled.

Not to mention the huge numbers of Tory business owners who don't pay their employees decent wages or employ them on zero-hours contracts - but let's blame it on the poor.

We're still one if the wealthiest countries in the world. Why aren't we more ashamed of this disgraceful development?

It's sadly a global development, whereby wealthy countries are becoming more unequal. Food insecurity also a big issue in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, for example (direct experience working wit them), and as pp mentioned, also across other wealthy European countries.

It IS a dreadful situation.
By and large, a wealthy society - or even a moderately ok society - should be able to provide for all its citizens.
I can understand a reluctance to provide more money to people who, say, have issues with drug or alcohol, or who've already received as much money as everyone else. But then, if people are to receive welfare in kind, then it should be provided by the State, not by the casual charity of Tesco customers buying an extra tin of beans.
The general shift of policies in the last few years, in terms of health, environment, welfare and education, has been to help the rich get richer at the expense of every other priority. And some of the ways in which welfare has been administrated have been grotesquely cruel.

There are so many total arseholes on this thread that I am desperately hoping they are Russian bots and not actual humans living in this country.

Isabelle if you mean the poor-deserve-it group then I agree. MN has been quite an eye-opener - rampant racism, contempt for the disadvantaged, ageism, misogyny, lynch-mob mentality - I had no idea how many right-wing, deeply unpleasant people there were in the UK until I joined this forum. Some decent people too but some total tossers.

Yep, those ones. I don't know any IRL though, thankfully.

There certainly are some callous fuckers on this thread.

There certainly are some callous fuckers on this thread.

It makes you wonder how many people are this way IRL but they keep their real thoughts hidden beneath a more empathetic outward mask.

They should do voiceovers for Comic Relief - 'Isaac has malaria because he was too lazy to get a job in a malaria-free country - donate now to help high earners who have been affected by the theft of tax'

The first time I saw any type of food bank was during the steelworkers & miners strikes. Communities opened kitchens to feed the strikers & their families. When the steelworkers were on strike their union reps were invited to the pits to collect donations of money, clothing & food given by the mining communities. When the miners were on strike the steelworkers unions did the same for them. There have always been food collections by church communities for the less fortunate. But as everyone says we are living in the 21st century & this shouldn't be happening.

Wow. It's not hard to spot the middle class on this thread!

These are not cracks in the system any longer they are part of the design of the system.

If we lived in world of equality and someone suggested we changed the system to one where some people need food banks while others are richer than countries you'd say that person was crazy and rightly so. No human being is worth even twice as much as another let alone millions of times.

It might be harder than you think @Jessica.

We’re back to Victorian times

It goes back further actually. Im currently reading "Witchfinders A Seventeenth Century English Tragedy" It wasnt just religion and politics that lead to the witch hunts. It was also othering of poor people. And a fear that they would revolt. There are parellels with what was going on both then and now.

So many things have made me embarrassed to be British recently, this thread has just joined the list.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to the food bank either with or for a service user with a disability. It’s beyond sad.

Workhouses next people!

They won't be called workhouses though. They will be called something benign but official.

Something like "Rehousing Centres" or "Multiple Housing Centres" but they will be workhouses and people will be forced into them if they can't pay their rent or secure housing.

I live on the breadline, I am disabled, my partner works full time

I have read that MPs have just received 1.8% payraise followed by my council tax going up by 4% a year that is another £40 I have to find a month, the only thing I can now cut is gas, electric and food and I had already cut those to the bare bones. I now face a decision on whether to try and heat my house or feed my family.

Can you imagine you are a single mother, you lose your job. Benefits aren't enough to pay for your rent/bills/food. You have cut back as much as possible but everyday you and your children are getting hungrier. The advice from some people on this thread is to move house. So she can't afford food but she can afford agents fees, deposit and moving costs? Seems unlikely. Or how about the person who works in a job with a zero hour contract who some weeks can't get the hours to pay their bills.
Can you still blame the poor when it's quite obvious that it's the failure of government and society that have led to this situation. All while mps pat themselves on the back and give themselves another pay rise.
I despair at people sometimes.

There are some ludicrous comments on this thread. It is very easy to demonise the "undeserving British poor" which is why I quoted the statistics for Europe. Does anyone really believe that there are 3.5 million drug addicts/alcoholics in France wasting their cash on drink and drugs and then turning to food banks for food?

This is a worlwide problem in developed economies and it is ridiculous for Lenny Henry to be singling out the UK for criticism as if we are superior and do things differently to the rest of the world. It is this worlwide problem that needs to be challenged globally and loudly by the UN.

It is not a question of austerity and lack of funds it is a worldwide attitude. Germany has been running with a huge budget surplus for years but is happy to have 1.5 million people a week using food banks. Instead of using this surplus to address poverty the Germans have decided to use it fund tax cuts.

Cake. Are you ok? To accuse Lenny Henry of singling out the UK is absurd. There is absolutely no necessity for things to be as they are for the poor in this country. It's been designed into the system, as has already been stated in several posts, to fund tax cuts.

Agree. The number of people relying on food banks to feed their families (many of whom are working) is a fucking disgrace and embarrassment.

This will sound goady - I'm genuinely asking because I've been fortunate to never need a food bank and I don't know anyone who has used one - but outside of benefits sanctions, why are they needed? The state still gives people enough to eat each week, plus housing benefit, not having to pay council tax etc. Unless it's because of a sanction or before UC is sorted, why are so many people using them?