Tory Councillor celebrates 600k food bank meals

I see it as a sign of how far the UK has improved. After all, how many foodbanks did we have under labour eh???

Sunlit uplands and all that, and I'm sure you have more sun hours now that you ever did under a Labour govmt.

(this is tongue in cheek btw, as its actually quite deplorable). And also, you really aren't the only country to have poverty, people sleeping in cars, foodbanks etc. FFS, its 2022!!!!!
 
Unbelievable that so many people in the North East are having to live in food poverty - we seem to be going backwards economically.
 
I don’t fully understand why so many need food parcels. I don’t fully understand the benefits system having only ever using it once about 14 years ago and I think it’s changed since then. Tried looking but it’s so confusing.
But if we pay people benefits or they get a job then how do so many need food banks when food should be one of the first, if not the first thing that you spend your money on, work or no work.
It’s a crazy number
 
Rent is probably first cost to be paid out, then energy, not food - warm and dry, then eat. Rents have been rising significantly faster than inflation i.e. in line with property prices. (8% per year?)

Wages for the lower paid have failed to keep pace with RPI UK inflation for many years.

Taxes have increased at the low end - council tax always goes up more than inflation. Some of it has to be paid by all now matter what income.

National Insurance rates have risen since 2010. (paid more by lower paid)

Many benefits have been frozen despite a RPI inflation of around 7% at present

Some benefits are paid later than in the past.

Subsidised rents are vanishing as social housing shrinks.

Tax credits have been reduced for people on low incomes with dependents.

Some people are now paying bedroom tax, say by having a 2 bed property and only 1 or 2 people living in it.

Some people with disabilities have been taken off disability benefits and put on UC which is lower and/or had all disability benefits stopped such as daily living allowance.

In extreme cases some claimants are taking their own lives or attempting to take their own lives at assessment centres, because they feel they are not fit to work but have been deemed fit to work and feel they can't stay alive on lower benefits.

For 25+ year old living alone (monthly)

Living wage - £1326 before tax
Rent - £500
Council Tax - £90
Nat Insurance - £159
Income tax - £30
Travel £150 (cheap car or £7.50/day/rail bus fares)
Pension Contributions £100
Non food basic cost £100 (mobile/TV/haircuts/clothes/footwear/odd present/toilteries)
Energy £80
Water £15
That leaves £94/month for food or £3.20/day by my calculations.
 
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Cheers. Im lucky in that I haven’t needed benefit system really. I’ve always worked despite leaving school with one gcse. When I was out of work I joined the forces.
I’m also able bodied so can’t comprehend what it would be like not being able to work and not having enough money to live.
The number is crazy high and obviously needs reducing but I can’t see how.
I’d say tax the richer because I’m not rich. I’m sure the rich would say that’s not fair.
I’d tax everybody the same percentage of income, Council tax the same percentage of income and get some social housing back. I’m sure somebody with more knowledge must have better ideas.
 
I think that taxing income is now an outmoded way of paying a fairer tax. Its too easy to hide in trust funds, other companies and paying yourself dividends rather than a wage etc.

I'm no tax guru, but a fairer one for me would be to tax peoples wealth as opposed to their income, I'm sure there will be ways to circumvent this, and lets be honest richer people will be able to do this better than poorer people because they can afford the good accountants to do this for them, but at least this way you would be taxing somebody on what they are worth, and do have, rather than what income they claim to have got during that tax year.
 
Seems fair. Everybody pays same percent of what they earn on 2 big outgoings.
I’m not a big earner by the way. Wish I was.
 
Wasn't Raab actually quoted as saying that the government are not responsible for the poor and homeless? They are without doubt a despicable heartless shower, and always have been.
Raab. Co author of Britannia unchained

the British are some of the worst idler’s in the world it states.
raab Patel et al are evil beyond belief
 
Face Fuzz

My financial example was for someone working full time on £8.91/hour. Claiming no benefits.

Some people genuinely struggle to work full time, because of childcare, elderly care, disability (including some employer discrimination).

Options

Increase basic income tax allowance by £1500 a year would put an extra £300 into the hands of the full time working poor.

Reform Council Tax introducing more higher bands and the same time reducing the amount payable on the lower bands

Increase Universal Credit by 10% to make up for some of the frozen recent years. (no one is turning down £320/week jobs to go on UC £76/week)

Make disability assessments fairer.

Provide better quality free vocational training for unemployed building up skills and confidence.

More rubbish from RW 😎
 
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