Did you catch the Chancellor’s Spring Statement? Emma Revie, Trussell Trust CEO, commented: “We’re disappointed that no announcements were made to end austerity – it was a real missed opportunity to do the right thing, and give people on the lowest incomes financial support and certainty before Brexit. We know it’s an anxious time for people across the country, and that many [foodbanks are] seeing more and more people referred in situations that should never have happened in the first place. The Chancellor said there would be more announced in his Autumn statement later this year. Between now and then, it’s likely there will be people forced to food banks who could have been protected from ever being in that position if our policy makers had committed to concrete change this week. This isn’t right. But there are things we can do. This isn’t inevitable. We may not have seen the changes we wanted to on Wednesday – but this is just the start of what we can do together. These decisions are made by human beings – they can be unmade, or made differently in the future, by the same human beings. So let’s not give up. We won’t let hunger and poverty in the UK be side lined. And by [foodbanks and their supporters] standing shoulder to shoulder as a whole… we can move closer to real change.”
