I was very proud to have hosted an event in Parliament for the Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation focused on how this Parliament will tackle poverty.
In the last 14 years we have seen poverty rise dramatically in the UK under tough, chaotic and incompetent years of Tory Governments increasing the problem, including during the 5 years in Coalition with the Lib Dems.
When Labour left office in 2010, just 60,000 packages of support were provided to Brits but by the time Labour re-entered Downing Street in July this year, it was over 3.1 million shockingly.
I’ve run a foodbank in Bermondsey since 2017 and supported other organisations providing crisis help for local people, including pantries and the Rotherhithe Community Kitchen. I also set up the Parliamentary Group to End Foodbank Dependency in 2021 to raise awareness of the problem and provide policy recommendations to tackle the issue of rising poverty.
Labour cut poverty when last in office and we will have to do it again in Government now after years of Tory and Lib Dem policies exacerbating the problem.