GMB union political officer, Neil Smith says, ''the government has lost the trust of the nation''

Food poverty is a Tory inadequacy

There are questions flying about how the country is going to afford paying the bills triggered by the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Furlough costs, spending on support for the NHS and care services and more.
But people seem to forget, we are a rich country. We are not a poor, third world country. The government can access funds through borrowing and diverting spending to meet the imminent needs of our struggling industries and services, if they choose.

The NHS is in the public eye like never before and we need to keep it there. This weekend when many people are celebrating the 72nd anniversary of its forming there are so many things that we need to be aware of. Obviously the Coronavirus pandemic has been and is still a major cause for concern.

Poverty is a health hazard. It damages people physically and mentally. It humiliates and causes major stress. Imagine the shame that not being able to feed your family properly would cause, the stress and pain of having to bear public humiliation. This wasn’t unusual, as we also heard that schools who were trying to access the vouchers couldn’t log onto the system and had to tell parents their visit to the supermarket to feed the kids was on hold again. Absolutely unacceptable way for people to be treated in this day and age, in this country.