Better than a Lump of Coal

by Jason Michael McCann

Twitter @Jeggit

DURING December an infographic illustrating the increase in foodbanks across the local authorities of England, Scotland, and Wales between 2009 and 2013 did the rounds on Scottish Twitter. For all intents and purposes it looked like an election comparison map showing a massive landslide victory for hunger, with the 2013 map completely transformed in colour with the proliferation of voluntary associations feeding the destitute. In London alone, the Trussell Trust provided 49,969 three-day emergency food supplies over just six months last year – over 400 more than it did the year before.

The now commonplace practice of sanctions reduces people to “hardship, hunger and depression.”

Almost half of all referrals to these foodbanks were the result of benefits issues, particularly due to delays and sanctions. Others were forced to turn to foodbanks because of the rising cost of living, underemployment, and low income. The change in the statistics paints a grim picture of a broken and deteriorating Britain. Ken Loach’s fictional Daniel Blake, brought to his knees by petty-minded Kafkaesque officialdom and government policy, is a lived reality being replicated each day by thousands in every part of the United Kingdom. While the Department of Work and Pensions continues to maintain the position that sanctions are an important part of the benefits system to stop “scroungers” living off “handouts,” the National Audit Office – an independent watchdog – found that the now commonplace practice of sanctions reduces people to “hardship, hunger and depression.”