The Big Issue – August 05, 2019

10 | BIGISSUE.COM 05-11 AUGUST 2019

campaign.

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astweekthegovernmentannounced£2.1bnextracashforno-dealBrexitcrisis

planning.ButinSouthShields,thefuture of localbreakfastclubsisunderthreatafter

losingouton£30,000ofWestminsterfunding.EmmaLewell-Buck,LabourMPforthe

area,isdeterminedtostopchildrengoinghungrythissummer– butthegovernment

isn’tmakingiteasy.

“Igetpeoplecomingintomy officeallthetimeabsolutelydesperate,”saysLewell-Buck,40.“The

safetynetthatmy parentsreliedon whenwe neededithasbeencompletely eroded.”

ShehasrepresentedherconstituencyinParliamentsince2013.Aformersocialworker,she

specialisedinchildprotectionandmorerecentlyco-foundedholidayhungercharityFeedingBritain

withfellowMPFrankField.Ithasbuilta nationalnetworkofcommunitygroups,providingsupport

andresourcestothemtomakeadifferencetofamiliesstrugglingtofeedthemselvesandtheir

childrenduringthesummerholidays.

WhenshefirstenteredParliament,Lewell-BuckjoinedtheAll-PartyParliamentary Group

(APPG)on Hunger,subsequentlytouringtheUKtomeetpeoplewhotestifiedtothescaleofthe

crisis.TheMPwasleftheartbroken.

“Afterthe2015election, we realisedausteritywasgoingto

continuetobepushedthrough,cruelwelfarereformwouldstill

betheorderoftheday.SosettingupFeedingBritainseemed

likesomethingofvaluetodointhehereandnow.Weimagined

itasthe‘doing’ arm oftheAPPG.”

WhileFeedingBritainhasbranchesallovertheUK,theMPis

particularlyinvolvedwiththeholidayclubsinSouthShields.

“There’salotof peoplewhofeel absoluteshame about

havingtoaskforhelpor gotofoodbanks,” Lewell-Buckexplains.

“Westilldon’tknowthetrue extentofthefoodpovertyproblem

becauseofthat.”

InonegrouptheMPisinvolvedwith,childrenmeetina local

allotmenttolearnaboutplantsandwildlifethengetmealshot

offthebarbecue.

“Wekeepthemactivity-focusedandarekeentoavoid

approachingitlike, ‘You’rehungry,youcomehere’.”

EarlierthisyearNadhimZahawi,children’sministerat

thetime,announced£9.1minfundingfororganisations

providingfreemealsandactivitiesforkidsduringtheholidays,

fourtimesthefundingofferedayear earlierandbenefitingan estimated50,000children. Across

England, 11 groupswereselectedtoreceivegrants.

ButLewell-Buckisn’tconvinced.“IthasallbeenaPRexercisetomakeitlookliketheycare when

quitefranklytheydon’t.Iftheydid,they’dtackletherootcausesofitall–11groupshadsuccessful

bids,but92applied.Thegovernmentisn’tdoinganythingtosupporttheother81.”

In 2017,Lewell-BuckintroducedaPrivateMember’sBill–backedby 38organisationsand

nearly160MPs–thatdemandedthegovernmentmeasuresUKfoodinsecurityandcomesupwith

provisionsthateliminatetheproblem.Earlierthisyear, afteratwo-yearcampaign,thegovernment

finallyagreedtomonitor Britishhunger.ButnoresultswillbepublishedbeforeApril2021.

“We’retalkingaboutitmorenow butit’sbeenacrisisfor alongtime,”saysLewell-Buck.

“Ultimatelythelevel ofdestitutioninthiscountryisadirectresultof austerity,includingcruel and

punitive welfarereform.Andquitefrankly–ifyou lookatitclosely –therolloutof UniversalCredit

wasneverintendedtodoanything other

thanputhardshipontothosewho could

leastaffordit.”

Thespreadof low-paidandinsecure

workcombinedwithrisinglivingcosts and

stagnatingwagesisalsotoblamefor the

holidayhungercrisis,Lewell-Buck believes.

Thegovernmenthasallowedthegig

economytoflourish,Lewell-Buckargues,

andtheextremepovertysomanyare

plungedintowhenterm-timeends is one

symptomofthat.

“Butthethingis,peoplearebig-hearted

andpeopledocare.InSouthShields, people

aren’tparticularlywealthy,it’snota well-off

place,they’rehard-working,decent people.

I putanappealoutforoneofourfoodbanks

thathadshelvestotallyemptied.And you

couldn’tmoveinmy officefrom all the

donationswithin24hours.

“My faithinhumanityisdefinitely

there, justnotinthegovernment.By and

large IknowtheUKisfullofdecent people

whowillhelpout.I thinkthey’reour greatest

hopenow.”

feedingbritain.org

Re ort: Hannah Westwater

@hannahjtw

Additional reporting by

Liam Geraghty

@Lazergun_Nun

Politics of hunger

Lewell-Buck hit out

at ‘cruel’ policies

Clubbing together

About three million

kids across Britain may

go hungry this summer

The government knows

holiday hunger’s a

huge problem. So why

are they doing so little

to tackle it?