Ending poverty’s relentless grip must be a priority for the next government. here’s how.

OPINION

We’re already more than two weeks into this election campaign, yet the silence around poverty has so far been deafening. At the time of writing, no party has even mentioned the issue, let alone put forward policies to support the ever-increasing number of people who are struggling to get by.

I can’t understand this. We know that 79% of the UK public agree that poverty in the UK is a big problem, with almost three in four believing it’s the government’s responsibility to change it. In my day-to-day life, I couldn’t agree more. I see people coming through the doors of the food bank because they are living in a state of deprivation. They haven’t got enough money (because their income is too low) to afford even the essentials like food, heating and toiletries. Luxuries like having a holiday are a million miles away from their reality.

Unfortunately, the palpable apathy that political candidates and the main parties are showing at the levels of poverty in the UK suggest that they consider concerns around the cost of living to be temporary. The cost of living payments, while gratefully received, were not enough to cover the rising costs of food, fuel and rent over the past few years, and our food bank numbers prove it. And without even these payments in the coming year, I fear life will get even harder for the people we support.

In Southend, we’ve seen food bank need increase at a rapid rate, especially in the last few years. In 2019/20 we distributed 6,525 emergency food parcels, and this rose to 20,491 over the last year – that’s a 214% increase in the past four years.

The tide needs to turn quickly before more people are pulled into poverty, and that’s why the next government needs to prioritise urgently reforming the social security system so it provides better protection from having to go without the essentials. In the longer term, we need to be working towards an Essentials Guarantee, ensuring that universal credit at least covers the costs of essentials. That is the best shot we have as a nation at ensuring that people on the lowest incomes have a chance of coping with the core costs of life.

Reforming social security would mean people would ha