Tory knives out for foodbanks

Reporter: Jim Williams
Date published: 12 December 2014


JIM WILLIAMS’ FRIDAY THING

AS a weekly contributor to Oldham’s excellent foodbank I am at a loss to fathom out just why there is a need for the distribution of food to desperate citizens who cannot afford to pay even supermarket prices to feed themselves and their families.

MPs, who are supposed to display empathy with those families who struggle to feed their children, might just be expected to join the foodbank movement but it not always the case.

Welsh Tory Guto Bebb for instance criticised people who use foodbanks while being able to smoke and pay for a Sky TV package.

And then there is Blackpool MP Paul Maynard (another Tory needless to say) who insists that “we can’t make foodbanks part of the welfare state, it might become a habit.”

Not everyone gets handsomely paid for “working” two days a week and drawing a big fat salary for the privilege.

Multi-millionaire Lord Freud said he cannot understand what made it necessary for people to seek help to feed their families!

Archbishop Welby accused Lord Freud of getting his facts wrong and went on to say that foodbank volunteers have rescued the poor from hunger and have achieved the equivalent of a “social Dunkirk”.

What is particularly bizarre is that the Prime Minister could have claimed £22million handed out by the European Union to support the UK’s foodbanks and there is more than a hint of foot stamping anger at the EU for giving the foodbanks in blighted parts of the country a significant financial boost for the poor and impoverished.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. What is Cameron thinking?