The Tories Pushed Britain Into Widespread Hunger
In 2010, 60,000 food bank packages were distributed in Britain. Last year, it was 2.5 million. The Tories forced these people into relying on food banks, and in the near future, things are only going to get worse.
Volunteers pack food parcels at a Trussell Trust food bank as the UK cost of living crisis spirals. (Peter Summers / Getty Images)
Last Friday, former prime minister David Cameron tweeted, with a photo, that he’s spent the last two years volunteering at a food bank. The response was unsurprisingly critical. Some mocked the hypocrisy; others positioned him as a penitent attempting to make up for his past sins.
But seeing food banks as the answer to widespread hunger and poverty is not hypocritical or at odds with Cameron’s past actions. Instead, it’s consistent with the ideology that has informed many governmental decisions since the Tories came to power in 2010 — an ideology that demands that individuals and voluntary organizations provide a safety net rather than the state.
Destroying the Social Safety Net
Through its austerity policies, Cameron’s government oversaw the intentional and ideological destruction of the social safety net.
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