The comments the Conservative MP Jacob Rees Mogg made on
food banks hit the headlines immediately.
And little wonder.
According to this potential Tory leader, the voluntary
support given to food banks is ‘rather uplifting’.
It shows ‘what a compassionate country we are’.
The only reason for the rise in the use of foodbanks is
‘that people know that they are there.’
His conclusion?
‘Inevitably, the state can’t do everything, so I think there
is good within food banks.’
The welfare state created at the end of World War Two was
designed to look after its citizens from cradle to grave, to protect their
social and economic well-being. Food, and having enough to eat every day
of life, is clearly the most basic of needs.
Not some luxury extra.
Most people give money or volunteer their time to the Trust
organising food banks not out of ‘compassion’ but out of shame and anger that
food banks should be necessary in a country as wealthy as Britain.
Food banks are necessary. They should not be
necessary, certainly not on the current scale, and it is within our power to
change that.
Citizens Advice Scotland have been monitoring the number of
requests they have received from people who have reached crisis point.
Between 2012/13 and 2014/15, the number of people seeking advice on
Crisis Grants has increased
134 per cent (compared to advice regarding the former
scheme, Crisis Loans).
134 per cent.
More worryingly are the number of people who come to
Citizens Advice bureaux having not eaten for a number of days.
Days. Plural.
We know that already. But the objective, official data
makes it stark, in black and white.
Undeniable and unacceptable.
At our last meeting, the need to make allies was
raised. To work across political boundaries to fight poverty.
To join together to create a wave of opposition that cannot
be ignored.
To fight against a system that no longer offers a safety
net, especially in crisis – and we can all fall into crisis.
To look at the bigger issues. In work poverty.
Zero hour contracts. The real cost of living compared to the benefits
offered.
What it takes to lift individuals and families out of
poverty.
Working together.
It is galvanising to be part of the Poverty Truth Commission
as we endeavour to do this from our different walks of life, finding new
allies.
