Skip to main content

Only Labour will tackle the scourge of child poverty

The Tories are in denial about how their austerity agenda is linked to deepening poverty, writes MATT WILLGRESS

FIGURES published earlier this month by the Trussell Trust showed the steepest increase in people needing foodbanks in the past five years.

Then this week the Trussell Trust followed this news up by saying that they expected foodbank demand this Christmas to be even higher than last year, when it provided 186,185 three-day emergency food parcels by its network to people in crisis, with almost 80,000 of those going to children.

A big factor in the increased use of foodbanks is thought to be punitive Conservative policies, like the five-week wait in universal credit, which are pushing people to the point of destitution. 

This is made worse by the fact that when universal credit payments finally arrive they may not even cover the most basic living costs, leaving parents unable to feed their children.

What a disgrace these callous Tories are. As Labour Party chair Ian Lavery said in response to this news: “While so many of us will enjoy indulging over the Christmas period, it is a total scandal that more families than ever will be relying on food handouts just to save them from going hungry.”

We have also recently seen a National Education Union report that shows teachers are seeing a 62 per cent increase in child poverty since 2015, while a report from the Resolution Foundation warned that child poverty could reach a “record high” if the Conservatives win the general election, as the manifesto promises no changes to existing welfare policy.

It predicts that the number of children living in relative poverty will rise from 29.6 per cent in 2017-18 to 34.5 per cent by 2023-24 with the Tories.

Policy changes since the Tories came to power and ushered in austerity have led to social-security spending being £34 billion lower than it would otherwise have been, and the report says the Tories would in the next government preside over a further £3.8bn in cuts to working-age benefits, meaning that “under Conservative plans child poverty risks reaching a 60-year high of 34 per cent.” 

As John McDonnell said, in responding to the latter report, Labour will not accept the status quo continuing. 

In stark contrast to the Tories, “our reforms to social security, including scrapping universal credit, the two-child limit and the benefit cap, will stop child poverty increasing,” and additionally, “we have plans to tackle the root causes of child poverty.”

Policies to this end mean Labour will poverty-proof schools, introducing free school meals for all primary schoolchildren and tackling the cost of school uniforms, expanding free childcare and opening 1,000 new Sure Start centres.

Labour is also committed to guaranteeing a right to food to end the scandal of children and their families relying on foodbanks.

The appalling rise in foodbank use and child poverty are not inevitable — they both reflect the cruelty of Tory austerity, and it is important to understand that the Conservatives’ manifesto has austerity baked in and lacks any plans for the future of the country.

It is perhaps for this reason that the Tories are in denial that their policies lead to poverty, with candidate Gordon Henderson claiming that his party is not to blame for child poverty in his constituency, and Home Secretary Priti Patel also claiming that the government is not responsible for poverty. 

Yet the reality is that the impact of Conservative government policies on the lives of children in low-income families has been devastating, and this will continue.

As Jeremy Corbyn said in response to the Tory manifesto launch this week: “After a decade of the Conservatives cutting our NHS, police and schools, all Boris Johnson is offering is more of the same: more cuts, more failure, and years more of Brexit uncertainty.”

Only Labour will deliver the real change Britain needs, so that no-one is held back and no community left behind.

Labour will make tackling child poverty the priority it should be, giving all primary school pupils a free healthy meal every day, introducing a real living wage of at least £10 per hour, and transforming our social-security system so that it is there for everyone who needs it.

Matt Willgress is the national organiser of the Labour Assembly Against Austerity and editor of Labour Outlook. Follow www.facebook.com/LabourOutlook and www.twitter.com/labouroutlook.

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today