Bishop angry at government over foodbanks on Shropshire visit
Bishop of Lichfield Jonathan Gledhill has launched a scathing attack on the Government over foodbanks, saying he is "very angry" families are relying on charity to be fed.
The bishop, who is in charge of churches in parts of Shropshire, accused politicians of not realising the extent of poverty today and demanded a government inquiry into the issue.
He said: "Foodbanks are offering a hugely important service. It is such a shock to discover there are people who are going hungry. That makes me very angry.
"The government is not supporting these people. It has even made tactless remarks that it is their own fault for being disorganised. We should be able to give people more than that."
Bishop Gledhill was talking at the first anniversary of a foodbank in Market Drayton, one of dozens set up across Shropshire and Mid Wales to help families struggling to make ends meet.
He met Reverend Martin Tanner, vicar of St Mary's Church in Market Drayton, who has helped run the foodbank.
Since its launch on November 6 last year the bank has helped almost 900 people, more than a third of which have been children.
Mr Tanner said: "I never thought in this day and age people in Britain would be relying on food banks. Yet the government denies there is a problem.
"They stopped allowing job centres to issue vouchers and have offered no support. It's like the government is trying to deny there is a problem."
The comments from Bishop Gledhill today put him in direct conflict with Conservative politicians in the region, who insisted the Government was acting to help those in need and dismissed his call for an inquiry into the issue.
Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow, said: "I'm not sure what the purpose of a public inquiry would be. Many of the people referred to food banks are from public agencies some of which were prevented from referring people under the previous government.
"This government has removed those restrictions. The important thing is that we support the excellent work food banks are doing. I recently visited one in Bridgnorth and they have some very committed volunteers doing an excellent job."
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, said: "Under the most extraordinarily difficult economic circumstances this government has made three very important decisions which help people in day to day life.
"One of them is the freeze on council tax which has a real impact, the other is raising the amount you can earn tax free to £10,000. The third example is the scrapping of the fuel escalator which would have seen petrol prices go up on an annual basis.
"These are three very important issues which have been done to help people. Unemployment is falling in Shropshire and there have been a record number of business start-ups.
"Helping business to thrive is the future and this government is helping businesses to do that."
MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard MP added: "The best way to put money into people's pockets is to get them into work.
"Unemployment over the whole county is coming down.
"The government is also doing much more to help those in immediate and dire need through a range of government benefits and programs."
But Labour MP for Telford & Wrekin David Wright backed the bishop's comments, saying he he would support a public inquiry.
He said: "I think the growth of food banks across the county is shocking. Austerity measures are putting people in grave difficulty in terms of managing their household budgets.
"In this day and age we should be seeing foodbank numbers decreasing not rising and I know we have seen increased demand for foodbank support in Telford.
"I am supportive of any move to delve into and investigate the causes of increased uses of foodbanks but I think the conclusion would be pretty clear.
"Those who are most vulnerable are the ones who are feeling the impact of the coalition government's austerity drive. It is absolutely unbelievable."
Foodbank facts:
The Trussell Trust, which runs 400 foodbanks across the UK, is launching three new foodbanks every week to help meet demand, including one in Newport, pictured above
There has been a 170 per cent rise in numbers turning to foodbanks in last 12 months, according to the trust
The trust says its foodbanks have seen the biggest rise in numbers of people given emergency food since it began in 2000
Almost 350,000 people have received at least three days emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks during the last 12 months
Numbers helped are 100,000 more than anticipated and close to triple the number helped by the charity in 2011-2012
Star comment: Inquiry on poverty is non-starter
