23 06 2014

Britain's hunger crisis: One MILLION food parcels handed out despite UK having sixth richest economy

Campaigners last night demanded David Cameron scrap his savage welfare reforms after the number of emergency food parcels handed out soared to more than a million.

Furious anti-poverty groups and church leaders said it was beyond belief that people in 21st century Britain are going hungry and relying on charity.

The number of food parcels given out last year by the Trussell Trust alone nearly tripled from 346,992 to 913,138. And 330,205 of those went to children.

Another 182,000 are being donated each year by just 45 independent food banks, according to a recent survey.

Campaigners say the shocking ­statistics shatter the PM’s twisted boast that his welfare reforms are a “moral mission” giving hope to the poor.

Benefits cuts and delays, the rising cost of living and pay freezes are forcing more and more people into food banks, experts have long warned. One, on Merseyside, is handing out rations at the alarming rate of one every nine minutes.

Legal experts even claim Mr Cameron is breaching human rights laws by allowing people to go hungry.

And Trussell Trust chief Chris Mould said the growing queues at food banks is proof the economic recovery Chancellor George Osborne brags of is still not affecting those on the breadline.

He added: “It’s close to triple the numbers helped last year, shocking in 21st century Britain. But perhaps most worrying of all is this figure is just the tip of the iceberg of UK food poverty.