Email #10

Dear Harriet

I was lucky today.  I had nectar points that I was able to redeem which meant I was able to get some food from Sainbury's.  But not everyone is this lucky.  Many families are having to rely on foodbanks and many parents tonight will have to chose whether or not to eat so that they can get another meal out of the food they have for their children.  And this isnt just families on welfare, this is families who work too.

No parent should have to go without simply so their children do not.  And they certainly shouldnt have to in the worlds sixth most afluent country.

According to The Trussel Trust 1,084,604 people received three days or more food from a food bank in 2014.  This was a rise of 19% from the previous year.  This includes people who are having to use food banks more than once.  This should be unacceptable to Labour because this means that food banks are not a source for emergancies. they are becoming a way of life.

Poverty, hardship and destitution are becoming the main theme for the people of Britain.  People are not simply falling on hard times, they are falling into the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor.  And I do not mean those who work and those who do not.  I do not mean the gap between middle class middle England and the working class or benefit claimant "underclass", I mean the gap between the top 1% wealthy class and the rest of the country.  For many, they are one pay cheque, one threat of redundancy, one week without any hours on their zero hour contract, away from requiring the support of a foodbank.

Sainsbury's recently announced it is to cut 800 jobs, Rolls-Royce announced it is to cut 1300 jobs, Boots has announced it is to cut 700 jobs and yesterday HSBC announced, in the wake of their record fine for corrupt practices, that it will axe 50000 jobs over the next two years.  Each of these loses is representative of an individual or family who may end up at a food bank as a direct result of the loss of personal income.

This is not something that should be taken lightly.  This is something that should be the cause of alarm.  Because this is the direct result of austerity.  This isnt people who cannot budget effectively, this is people who are suddenly facing no money to budget with.  And with the rising cost of living, people are not in a position to save any money they may have for the possibility that their next pay cheque may not come.

Labour MUST speak up about this.  Labour MUST become more focused on speaking up and speaking out for these people.  Those who are working and those who are on welfare for whatever reason.  Labour needs to stop echoing the voice of the Conservative party.  Labour MUST become the party that is anti austerity.

Listen to your members.

Constituent, Labour Party member, Union member, sleep deprived carer, concerned citizen, self employed mother, mother of a teenager with ASD, socialist, environmentalist, Disabled Rights supporter, Jeremy Corbyn supporter, mother feeding her children with nectar points.