21st Century Britain: A Nation Hungry For Answers

Many families across the UK will have finished their Christmas shopping this week, spending big bucks for no reason (I still find it hard to believe that because Jesus was born, I deserve £300 worth of stuff). However, there will also be families who haven't got their Christmas presents yet.

These people aren't usually leaving it until the last minute, they simply don't have money to buy gifts because surviving is more important. This has led many skint citizens of Britain visiting foodbanks this Christmas to get through the turbulent times of the Winter season.

Yesterday, there was a debate in Parliament about food banks and poverty in the UK in which Labour's appeal to reduce dependency on food banks was defeated by 43 votes. From watching it and reading multiple articles, I realised I am not the only one who is absolutely appalled by this.

Lets think from a non-biased point of view here. Who can honestly say that they think that human beings should have to use food banks? It's demeaning, it's embarrassing, it lowers your reputation and destroys your dignity.

Now, back to politics. According to shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle, 500,000 people in the UK - a third of them being children - have relied on food banks in the past eight months. That is almost 1% of the population. If you live in a town of 40,000 people, around 300-350 people will have relied on one. Put this into figures for London, a city of 8.1m and you have over 80,000 people relying on food banks. Sickening figures.

Yet with these sickening figures, you have greedy politicians. Iain Duncan Smith is shown above giggling during the debate and when called upon to answer questions, he moved the responsibility to his deputy Esther McVey, before leaving early. McVey's speech has been called one of the most disgusting and Labour's Gerald Kaufman described it as the "nastiest" speech he had heard in his 43 years as an MP.

Although most Tories sniggered and snorted at the thought of an alternative, credit has to be given to Conservative MP Laura Sandys who said "Food banks are not the answer. They must be seen as a transitional support mechanism for families in stress at particular moments." Perhaps there is a trace of humanity in the party after all.

What would my solution be? To first of all create jobs so that we don't have a problem with income; then offer support to families who are struggling at this time of year; and finally, to grab energy companies by the balls to make the winter season easier to survive in. Last year my house suffered from no heat for three months and no one done anything useful about it. Kettle baths and extra blankets weren't a fun experience. So I can imagine how people who can't afford to turn their heating on must feel. The only reason I feel that I can live with the heating on is because Scotland isn't as badly hit as the rest of the UK. 

So, if you have time, go down to your local food bank, help out. Volunteer or deliver goods. If you are reading this and think all hope is lost, don't think like that. It can hardly get worse than it already is.