Food poverty and the chance to make a difference in the election | Letters

Jane Middleton urges readers to vote Labour to end the Tory-induced epidemic of food bank use, while Jane Streather says the next government must increase funding for the provision of free food to children

The latest statistics from the Trussell Trust indicate that almost three-quarters of people using food banks are forced to do so by the government’s welfare policies (Universal credit blamed as food bank handouts soar by 23% in a year, 13 November). Those of us involved in campaigning against food poverty have long since stopped being surprised by the Tories’ denial of this unpalatable truth.

What is surprising is that this government-induced epidemic of hunger is not the dominant issue at this election. In 1945, memories of the deprivations of the 1920s and 1930s led the electorate to vote in a government that would create the welfare state; now we need to vote for one that will restore that welfare state to its original role of preventing destitution, not causing it.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/345fOri