ANDY BURNHAM has a “unique chance” to end the scandal of Britain’s reliance on food banks by introducing right-to-food legislation after becoming prime minister, leading anti-poverty experts said yesterday.

The UK Right to Food Commission urged him to make a decisive break from his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer’s policies and “decades of austerity-driven political and economic orthodoxy.”

It will begin taking evidence from MPs and public health experts in Westminster tomorrow after hearing from food campaigners, experts and unions across the country.

Commission vice-chair Ian Byrne MP said: “Everywhere the commission has travelled, we’ve heard the same message: food insecurity is not a food problem, it is an income problem.

“People are going hungry because wages are too low, work is too insecure, social security is inadequate and the cost of food, housing and energy has risen beyond what millions of families can afford.”

The Liverpool West Derby MP added that emergency food aid “was never designed to become a permanent part of our social security system, which it shamefully now is.

“It’s a clear example of the failed system which punishes those most vulnerable, and we must never ever forget that ‘hunger is a political choice’ and we need different political choices to be made,” he said.

“With a new prime minister about to take office this is a one-off opportunity to break decisively with the failed austerity model that has left millions living in poverty and far too many children growing up food-insecure.”

Bakers’ union general secretary Sarah Woolley, the commission’s vice-chair, said: “The solutions won’t look identical in every community but the principle should be the same everywhere: governments must accept responsibility for ensuring everyone has enough income to afford food while giving local communities the resources and flexibility to deliver solutions that reflect local needs.”

Commission chair University of Southampton emeritus professor Barrie Margetts said: “We heard that many people in work rely on food banks to feed their families.”

Leading children’s rights expert SallyAnn Kelly said: “A ‘right to food’ framework could create the accountability that has been missing for too long, placing clear duties on governments to prevent hunger, measure progress transparently and involve people with lived experience in shaping the solutions.”