More than a million have used UK food banks in the past year

[mikeyjh]

So just blame the middle classes for this problem then ?

Not what I'm saying in any way, I'm simply pointing out that it isn't the poor that have the great sense of entitlement.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Indeed it would, I cannot argue with your statement.... but that strategy and outcome, I feel, is based on a stable internal workforce, not the largely new transient workforce we are trying to accommodate aswell.

But as an economy grows it can, and will actually need, a "new transient workforce."

 

[Nibble]

More than a million have used UK food banks in the past year


Yep, because the Tory government is systematically removing money from 97% of the population and placing it in the coffers of 3% of the population. I hope we all wake up to this deliberate theft and get shot of them before too long.

 

[Uncle C]

That's a silly statement - We're talking about people struggling to eat, not about those in the middle classes whingeing about being able to get on the 'property ladder'. I suspect that, to the people using food banks, the idea of home ownership is not something they can even dream of right now.

These people have no cloth to cut.

How about them cutting this cloth
1 Smoking
2 Sky TV
3 Mobile phones
4 Sophisticated computers
5 Big screen TVs
6 Alcohol
7 New (not second hand) furniture
8 Designer clothes
9 Foreign holidays
10 Cars
11 Play stations and games

Fair bit to work on there.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I have to say that I didn't realise the scale of the problem. I just googled "food banks near me", and there are four in a 10 mile radius - Farnham and Fleet being the nearest to me and these are affluent areas. I shall be donating food from now on, now that I know where they are.

 

[Titanic]

More than a million have used UK food banks in the past year


Yep, because the Tory government is systematically removing money from 97% of the population and placing it in the coffers of 3% of the population. I hope we all wake up to this theft and get shot of them before too long.

Is that how the £10,000 tax threshold works then??

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

How about them cutting this cloth
1 Smoking
2 Sky TV
3 Mobile phones
4 Sophisticated computers
5 Big screen TVs
6 Alcohol
7 New (not second hand) furniture
8 Designer clothes
9 Foreign holidays
10 Cars

Fair bit to work on there.

Very easy for someone from Bishop Stortford to say. Maybe you should take a look around the rest of the country.

 

[somerset]

But as an economy grows it can, and will actually need, a "new transient workforce."

Aaaahhh,... the old 'chicken and egg' scenario,..... not easy to answer either way.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It isnt the middle classes that head for Wonga in their tens of thousands to fund a new 50 inch TV or an all inclusive holiday to the Med, ... is it?

Wongo is not used for long term lending is it? The interest rates alone prohibit this. So it is highly unlikely IMHO that anyone would borrow to fund a tv or holiday.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

There's just too many people is the problem.

 

[somerset]

More than a million have used UK food banks in the past year


Yep, because the Tory government is systematically removing money from 97% of the population and placing it in the coffers of 3% of the population. I hope we all wake up to this deliberate theft and get shot of them before too long.

Of course I dont know for certain, but I wouldnt mind betting that many of these food banks were in existence before May 2010.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Aaaahhh,... the old 'chicken and egg' scenario,..... not easy to answer either way.

It's very easy to answer; it starts from raising the minimum wage.

 

[mikeyjh]

It isnt the middle classes that head for Wonga in their tens of thousands to fund a new 50 inch TV or an all inclusive holiday to the Med, ... is it?

How about them cutting this cloth
1 Smoking
2 Sky TV
3 Mobile phones
4 Sophisticated computers
5 Big screen TVs
6 Alcohol
7 New (not second hand) furniture
8 Designer clothes
9 Foreign holidays
10 Cars
11 Play stations and games

Fair bit to work on there.

There's not much to say to any of that, simply that you really do not understand the reality of the UK today. To have such ill informed prejudices against poor people? I think it's a sad reflection on us all....

 

[Uncle C]

Very easy for someone from Bishop Stortford to say. Maybe you should take a look around the rest of the country.

I came from a poor family of 8 kids, but my dad worked everyday of his life as a hospital porter, so probably on or near the lowest of wage earners. We did this by managing the income against the outgoings. Food and heat were top of the list - after that EVERYTHING was a luxury.

I dont think any of us kids had the sense of entitlement that exist today.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Of course I dont know for certain, but I wouldnt mind betting that many of these food banks were in existence before May 2010.

Insteas of hypothesising why dont you go and find out? It cannot be too difficult with the aid of Google.

 

[Uncle C]

There's not much to say to any of that, simply that you really do not understand the reality of the UK today. To have such ill informed prejudices against poor people? I think it's a sad reflection on us all....

The reality is that we are in the X Factor generation where people believe its their entitlement to make a fortune without any real talent or effort. Luxuries are now 'must haves'

 

[Nibble]

Of course I dont know for certain, but I wouldnt mind betting that many of these food banks were in existence before May 2010.

Nope, they were not. It's about time the Tory government stopped blaming Labour to cover up their **** ups. There is only so long you can keep saying "But Sir, a bigger boy did it and ran away".

 

[seagully]

My Mum volunteers in a food bank in Hastings and I think you would be surprised by the type of person that uses them. She sees many more recently unemployed professionals who had well paid jobs but have hit hard times than your stereotypical 'dole scum'/council estate type.

In answer to a previous post, you need to be referred by the local authority and present vouchers in order to receive the food.

Without pretending to have the answers, I find it very sad that in such a rich and comparatively prosperous developed nation, there are still people living in poverty and forced to turn to schemes like the food banks.

 

[Nibble]

I came from a poor family of 8 kids, but my dad worked everyday of his life as a hospital porter, so probably on or near the lowest of wage earners. We did this by managing the income against the outgoings. Food and heat were top of the list - after that EVERYTHING was a luxury.

I dont think any of us kids had the sense of entitlement that exist today.

You do have a massive chip on your shoulder though.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I came from a poor family of 8 kids, but my dad worked everyday of his life as a hospital porter, so probably on or near the lowest of wage earners. We did this by managing the income against the outgoings. Food and heat were top of the list - after that EVERYTHING was a luxury.

I dont think any of us kids had the sense of entitlement that exist today.

Wages went a lot further in the past though. Rent and energy have far outstripped inflation.

And I do feel people should feel entitled to be able to buy food in a country which David Cameron himself said is "wealthy." He is quite happy to give "whatever it takes" to flood victims..why no sort out food poverty as well?