I've already talked about food banks and the great work that they do for people who are in real difficulty.
If you can afford to give to a food bank this Christmas then please do - there is information where and how here - and to those who claim that food banks shouldn't do thinks like selection boxes and Christmas food I say stop being such a humbug and think for a moment about what it feels like when your parents can't afford those little extras when those around you take them for granted.
Not long ago the odious Jacob Rees-Mogg - who has never wanted for anything or had to do a real day's work in his life - was taken apart for his view that food banks are a great thing. So he should have been, not least for being such a poor communicator. What I think he meant was that his world/religious view believes that charity should provide for the needs of those who cannot provide for themselves but by implication wider society and, specifically the state, should not. Therefore food banks are great things.
I think food banks are great things too but because they are great examples of social solidarity - like the 'food banks' and feeding centres that many of us helped during the Miners' strike of 84-85 - because they are necessary. But that we need food banks at all in 2017 in what is still perceived as a wealthy country is a damned disgrace and that the state will not provide for the basic needs of the population is an indictment of the world we live in.
So please give to your food bank, wish you didn't need to and vote for a world where you don't have to.
