Agenda 2019

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/millions-of-britons-struggling-to-feed-themselves-and-facing-malnourishment-9946627.html     Millions of Britons struggling to feed themselves and facing malnourishment   Foodbanks relying on donations of food.   On December 20th, I blogged on the bigoted generalisations, unfortunately, all too common in today's greedy, selfish and prejudiced society, in respect of attitudes towards the poor, foodbanks, child poverty and the general demonisation of large sections of our society, by those all too ready to accept and believe the propaganda trotted out from the pages of the Daily Mail, Telegraph and other such rags, and the completely biased reporting of Wilcox and others on the BBC with Brazier and Boulton on the British version of Fox News. The “success” of divisive social policies maintained by successive governments, have now become the “flagship” of this current ConDem coalition and have been...

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/11683374.People_turn_to_foodbanks_to_feed_their_families_over_Christmas/ People turn to foodbanks to feed their families over Christmas Foodbank volunteers "Hundreds of people (in Dorset,) will be turning to foodbanks to feed their families this Christmas. Instead of turkey with all the trimmings, hard-pressed families will be serving up tinned and dried foods this festive season."  Dorset Echo: 23rd December 2014.   Just one small part of scandal which has grown vastly over the past 5 years. In this country today, there are over 1 million people who are reliant on Food banks or other food charities, to feed their families this Christmas. The figure has grown significantly since last Christmas and shows no sign of reducing anytime soon. It is a scandal and a disgrace, which should shame us all for allowing such a situation to come about. The Foodbank charities and the volunteers working in them are doing a magnificent ...

  http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/08/tories-avert-rift-church-food-bank-report?commentpage=5 Tories seek to avert rift with Church of England over food bank report A foodbank in the United Kingdom in the year 2014. A church funded all-party report is published today,(8th December 2014), on the increased use of food banks in this country and warning that Britain is stalked by low pay, growing inequality, a harsh benefits section scheme and social breakdown. It is perhaps fitting that the report is published just two weeks before Christmas, highlighting the growing phenomena of food bank usage in the United Kingdom. The Tories have of course attempted to distance themselves from any blame associated with this scandal, with one minister claiming that the increased use of food banks is due to the greater publicity about their existence. The Department of Work and Pensions, remain adamant that the administration of the benefit system has littl...

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-29957695 Foodbank use for south west children 'quadruples since 2011' The Trussell Trust runs a charity which runs 28 Foodbanks across the South West   Lying deep amongst the news stories the last 12 months, is the ongoing story which refuses to go away. Largely ignored by the press and television media, possibly by accident but more likely to be on the directions of some mysterious government department, the continuing scandal of the increasing number of people reliant on food bank charities is the subject which the Department of Work and Pensions and various other government departments and of course the ConDem Coalition government, would really like to go away and by adopting a policy of “if we ignore the situation for long enough the problem will cease to exist, in any case the usual charities can provide a short-term solution to the short-term problem”, they can pretend that the scandal of people in t...

  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/30/child-poverty-link-malnutrition-rickets Rickets returns as poor families find healthy diets unaffordable.   Helping to prevent Rickets at a primary school in the 1950's    With their heads buried firmly in the sand (or some other location), the ConDem coalition government continue their drive for even greater austerity, and resolutely refuse to accept that their policies are forcing more and more families in this country to the point of poverty or even below the accepted definitions of poverty. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the ever increasing reliance on food banks, now totaling in excess of 1 million people, the rise in poverty related illnesses, the increasing numbers of homeless creating different but never the less significant problems for our society, and all the published evidence from recognised charities and institutions, yet  the government repeat that we are on the right cour...

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/11298070.ECHO_INVESTIGATES__Food_bank_users_soar/#commentsList  The numbers of people reliant on foodbanks, continues to grow. More than i million people now rely on foodbanks.   The "forgotten" scandal of  the effect of the cuts and other austerity measures of this wretched ConDem coalition government. As other news has filled our headlines for some months, the plight of those who now rely on the distribution of food to feed themselves and their families has been pushed to the back pages or even ignored by the press and media. It is now reported that the number pf people reliant on foodbanks in Weymouth has increased fourfold in the last 12 months. In the South west generally, there has been a 78% increase in the number of foodbank users and nationally, the figure is even higher with now more than 1 million people regularly receiving food assistance from the Trussel Trust and the other foodbank providers. In this the 21st...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-food-bank-charity-was-threatened-with-closure-by-ministers-aide-9533456.html Food bank charity ‘was threatened with closure by minister’s aide’ Andrew Selous, PPS to Iain Duncan Smith, Threats and intimidation by government to conceal the real scandal of foodbank reliance in this country. There seem to be no depths to which this ConDem coalition will not sink to cover up and distort the effects of their drive for austerity and the way in which peoples lives are being afflicted by hardship. Iain Duncan-Smith and his collaborators, should feel shame at their dogmatic policies which have led to and are perpetuating this outrage.  Mr Selous strongly denied having been the individual concerned.

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/food-banks-crawley-liam-marshall-ascough_n_5034541.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Extra Food Banks Aren't Needed Because Restaurants Are Busy, Says Tory Councillor  People aren't going hungry : Cllr Liam Marshall-Ascough Sometimes, it is hard to believe that that there are "people" in this country who still accept the myth that foodbanks are a consequence of "scroungers" preferring to live on charity rather than the result of government policies and delays in payment of essential  benefits. Last week it was Tebbit wading into the demonisation and general slurs in respect of Foodbanks and the people who use the charities.The Tebbit of "On your bike" fame. Tebbit, the lackey of Thatcher. Tebbit, the former airline pilot, who came to fame within the Tory party with his odious attacks on working people, immigrants, unemployed and the gay community a perfect lapdog in fact for the  grocers daughter from G...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/food-banks-lord-freud-blundering-3222149 Tory Bedroom Tax minister questions why hungry people go to food banks Welfare Minister Lord Freud   Posh Tory Lord Freud first attracted my attention in July of last year, when I saw an article in the "Independant" under the heading of "Demand for food banks has nothing to do with benefits squeeze." Perhaps he should have had a quick read of this Blog of the same date date "A patronising out of touch Baron" (http://new-agenda2012.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-patronising-out-of-touch-baron.html) It seems that this political dinosaur with the privileged life has learned nothing in the last 12 months.

  http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/454730/Edwina-Currie-s-cruel-jibe-at-poor?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-uk-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+UK+Feed%29 Former Tory MP Edwina Currie has provoked outrage by saying that ­people who use food banks waste their money on ­tattoos and dog food. Former Tory MP Edwina Currie   Edwina Currie, former junior cabinet minister, former MP, former lover of a nondescript parliamentary whip who became prime minister, crawling out from the depths of obscurity, to demonstrate that in all of her 67 years she has learned little if anything of reality in the United Kingdom. The gross generalisations pouring out of this politician turned author confirm a lack of understanding about how and why many people today, are forced into reliance on food banks and other charities for their day to day existence. With patronising comments, poorly constructed remarks and simplisti...

Boxing Day !   Its December 26th, Boxing Day 2013. The wind seems to have died down and it is not raining at the moment. Hopefully you are all well this morning and not suffering too much from yesterdays celebrations. No doubt however, some people may be regretting that final slice of turkey in the sandwich before going to bed, or the "just one more" chocolate from the box of Quality Street, or even that "this is definitely my lot" glass of Scotch or vodka or what ever your favourite tipple may be. What ever your condition may be this morning, I do sincerely hope that you had a wonderful day and are having a great Christmas holiday. Sadly, there are those in our society, who will not be of the same disposition as the majority of us as we nod gently over the breakfast table contemplating whether we do actually want that slice of toast and marmalade (rather that the usual scrambled egg, bacon, sausage and tomato and perhaps even a slice of fried bread...

  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-camerons-young-sidekick-claims-1852193  Liam Walker claims families use food banks so they can spend cash in the pub A young sidekick of David Cameron has claimed hard-up families are turning to food banks because they’ve wasted their money on booze. Liam Walker and David Cameron   A vile and despicable comment demonstrating yet again, how out of touch and insensitive the hierarchy of the Conservative party actually are.  Liam Walker, Chair of the Conservative Future, Witney, joins Iain Duncan-Smith, Nadhim Zahawi, Rupert Charles Ponsonby, David Anthony Freud and numerous other Tory ministers and MPs' who have consistently belittled the work of Foodbanks and demonised the people who, due to ConDem coalition government policies, are now reliant on the charities for food to feed their families. In this first quarter of the 21st Century, it is an outrage that there is a need for such charities and it is to th...

  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/22/my-first-year-food-bank-organiser My first year as a food bank organiser 'I love the work' … Ruth Fox at the food bank at East Cleveland Baptist Church in Redcar. The following text is from today's (23rd December 2013) Guardian and is reproduced in full:  "I resisted getting involved with the food bank at first. The minister at my church kept asking me, but I had managed a charity for homeless young people and was looking for something with a little less responsibility. Finally, at the end of last year, I said yes. We opened on 30 January, and it's the best thing I've ever done. When we started, we knew there was a need, but had no idea how much. We quickly realised we needed more distribution centres, because people were walking nine, 10, 11 miles for their food parcel, then home, struggling with the bags. That's not just people wanting free food, is it? It's desperation. ...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/21/christmas-shoppers-flock-to-high-streets-across-britain_n_4486149.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Christmas Shoppers Flock To High Streets Across Britain    Christmas in the high street   Austerity Britain. We should wonder how much of this "Christmas Shoppers Flock To High Streets" is being funded by Barclaycard and/or the usury companies of the "Payday loan" industry. We might also consider that this Christmas, more than 1 million people will be taking payday loans to put food on their table on December 25th and countless others will be collecting their Christmas day meals from the local Foodbank. Preparing Christmas dinner?   It will be interesting to learn sometime early next year, how many of these high street stores will be proudly announcing "record sales over the holidays" with increased profits ! If these companies can discount prices by 50% or even more and still make profit, then why are...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hungry-in-camerons-cotswolds-beyond-the-4x4s-and-classy-shops-of-the-pms-own-constituency-a-food-bank-is-alarmingly-busy-9020229.html In Cameron's Cotswolds in the PM's own constituency, a food bank is alarmingly busy A local Food bank.   In December of 2012, I wrote in this Blog under the heading of, “In 2013, Foodbanks will feed more than 200,000 people in the UK”. I was wrong.    Before the end of April of this year, 2013, the figure had already reached 300,000 and now as we draw to the end of 2013, the figure is close to 700,000, who are regularly reliant on Foodbank charities. The Trussell Trust , the biggest of the Food Bank providers, reports that their charity alone is now feeding more than 300,000. The number of smaller providers, operating in towns and villages around the country, has more than doubled in the past 12 months and make a valuable contribution to the growing struggle...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/summer-of-hunger-huge-rise-in-food-bank-use-as-demand-linked-to-welfare-reform-8755101.html Huge rise in food bank use as demand linked to 'welfare reform' Rupert Charles Ponsonby,     In this the 21st Century of our civilisation, it is staggering to hear an echo of an 18th Century remark, purportedly spoken, (but never actually corroborated as a quote) by Queen Marie Antoinette, upon hearing that people were suffering as a result of bread shortages. “Let them eat cake” she is alleged to have said in response to learning that the peasants had no bread, a phrase which has been used for almost the last 250 years, to reflect an individuals obliviousness as to the condition of the people. Now, in 2013, we have Conservative Environment Minister Lord De Mauley uttering another comment which should go into the history books. “The poor must learn to go without” says Rupert Charles Ponsonby, 7th Ba...