Delay in law on plain packs for cigarettes angers MPs
Failure to push through law in time for general election would be seen as ‘victory’ for big tobacco and lobbyists

The government is under fire from politicians on all sides amid fears that legislation forcing tobacco companies to sell cigarettes in plain packs will not be introduced before the general election.

MPs from all three main parties, including the Tory chair of the health select committee, have warned time is running out to introduce a law that would see cigarettes sold in unbranded packs, a measure experts claim would deter young people from smoking.

A delay would be a major victory for “big tobacco” and trigger questions for the Tories’ chief election strategist, Lynton Crosby, who runs a lobbying firm that represents Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris...

George Osborne accused of giving tax breaks to Tories’ oil industry donors
Labour Jon Ashworth calls for explanation over why Tories’ ‘big-money backers’ benefit from autumn statement

George Osborne has been accused of using his autumn statement to give tax breaks to Tory supporters as it emerged that several companies run by Conservative donors stand to benefit from a more generous tax regime on the profits of the oil industry.

On Wednesday the chancellor announced that the charge on oil firms’ profits would be reduced from 32% to 30%, as well as other measures to help investment in the industry. The moves, which follow intensive lobbying by the oil sector and were welcomed by company executives, will cost the Treasury £470m over the next parliament.

In total, the Conservative party has received more than £2.5m since 2010 from donors associated with the oil industry. These include Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of EnQuest Oil; Alexander Temerko, director of Offshore Group Newcastle; and Ian Taylor, chief executive of Vitol, all of whom dined with senior ministers as part of the exclusive Conservative party Leaders Group in the summer. Such gatherings allow donors who give at least £50,000 to the party to socialise with senior ministers, including David Cameron, Osborne and others...

telegraph.co.uk wrote:Food banks: Hunger is stalking country, Archbishop of Canterbury tells MPs

Politicians from all parties will today be challenged to confront the "simple but devastating fact that hunger stalks this country".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby will join the veteran anti-poverty campaigner Frank Field and others to launch a report into the "new phenomenon" that families are driven to relying on food banks because of failures in the welfare system.

Many families are so desperate to avoid being evicted for rent arrears, or having their gas or electricity cut off that "they go without food and therefore see food banks as reintroducing that buffer in their finances which many have lost," the report's authors warn.

They call for government backing to set up a new network called Feeding Britain, to co-ordinate the work of food banks and other voluntary organisations and charities - which currently receive just 2% of the 4.3 million tonnes of waste food generated by the food industry every year....

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 06542.html

dailymail.co.uk wrote:Poor people go to food banks because they 'don't know how to cook', claims Tory peer Baroness Jenkin

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington suggested that a lack of cookery skills was in part to blame for families turning to charities for food handouts
_____________________________________________________

A Conservative peer faced a backlash tonight after claiming poor people do not know how to cook.

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington suggested that a lack of cookery skills was in part to blame for families going to food banks, and boasted she ate a bowl of porridge for 4p for breakfast. She later apologised for causing offence for the comments, but insisted: 'The point is valid. If people today had the cooking skills that previous generations had, none of us would be eating so much pre-prepared food.'

The All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK found that, since the establishment of the Trussell Trust network in 2004, numbers of emergency food assistance providers have grown to at least 1,500, including 800 food banks - around half of them operated by the Trust.

Citing evidence from the Trussell Trust that its 420 food banks alone provided help to 913,138 people in 2013/14 - up from 128,697 in 2011-12. The remarks came as a major report found there that 'demand for emergency food assistance is increasing, and sometimes increasing dramatically'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... enkin.html

chairman bill wrote:Isn't anyone going to come in with some support for the Nasty Party, with something about how they managed to survive on half a tin of baked beans for a week, so proving that all poor people are scroungers, stupid and overfed and we should cut all benefits 'cos it's the liberal thing to do?

This is the heartbreaking call from a man that is so poor since being made redundant that he is living on a tin of spaghetti a day. http://www.lbc.co.uk/heartbreaking-call ... eat-101623

Baroness Jenkin apologised for her remarks though, saying that her words had been 'badly chosen' but that the point still stood - poor people don't know how to cook.

Strontium Dog wrote:Found myself in Birkenhead the other morning, which is sometimes unavoidable. There were two women in the newsagents (both in their pyjamas, natch) buying scratchcards and junk food.

Strontium Dog wrote:All the fault of the bloody Tories, no doubt.

www.church-poverty.org wrote:The explosion in food poverty and the use of food banks is a national disgrace, and undermines the UK’s commitment to ensuring that all its citizens have access to food – one of the most basic of all human rights.

Up to half of all people turning to food banks are doing so as a direct result of having benefit payments delayed, reduced, or withdrawn altogether. Figures gathered by the Trussell Trust (see page 13) show that changes to the benefit system are the most common reasons for people using food banks; these include changes to crisis loan eligibility rules, delays in payments, Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions and sickness benefit reassessments. There is clear evidence that the benefit sanctions regime has gone too far, and is leading to destitution, hardship and hunger on a large scale.

The growth in food aid demonstrates that the social safety net is failing in its basic duty to ensure that families have access to sufficient income to feed themselves adequately. The exponential rise in the creation of food banks reflects a growing problem and only delivers mitigation. Food banks provide a vital emergency service to the people they support but they do not address the underlying structural causes for the growth of food poverty.

It is unacceptable that whilst thousands are being forced to turn to food banks and millions are unable to meet the rising cost of living as a result of the Government’s austerity programme, wealthy individuals and corporations continue to dodge their obligation to pay their fair share of tax.

http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/walkin ... adlinefile (PDF)

FPHRCP wrote:There is a worrying gap in health circumstances and outcomes between rich and poor people in the UK. Complex though the reasons for this inequality are, the reality is that many hardworking families in the UK are living in poverty and do not have enough income for a decent diet. UK food prices have risen by 12% in real terms since 2007, returning the cost of food relative to other goods to that in the 1990s.

In the same period, UK workers have suffered a 7.6% fall in real wages. It therefore seems likely that increasing numbers of people on low wages are not earning enough money to meet their most basic nutritional needs to maintain a healthy diet. We should not accept this situation in the UK, the world's sixth largest economy and the third largest in Europe.

We wish to draw attention to three specific issues. First, food poverty is increasing. It is not just that more people are using food banks. Food banks are a symptom of a more extensive pressure for emergency food aid, which was recently summarised in a report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released this year.

Food bank numbers are an inadequate indicator of need, because many households only ask for emergency food help as a last resort. A huge amount of on-the-ground experience and Trussell Trust data, including the rise of food aid, suggests that the welfare system is increasingly failing to provide a robust last line of defence against hunger. More and more households, now including those in work, find themselves unable to afford a decent diet. Reliance on food aid should not be part of any modern, society-wide and evidence-based approach to public health policy.

Second, there is the underlying issue of food costs and prices. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and DEFRA have shown that the rising costs of food during the past 6 years are proving increasingly hard for lower-income households to manage. The food industry is well aware of these problems; nevertheless, food is likely to continue to cost more in the future.

During the past five years, food has been one of the three top factors in price inflation, sufficient to worry even higher-income consumers. In a time of high fuel prices, this inflation has translated into families cutting back on fresh fruit and vegetables and buying cheap, sweet, fatty, salty, or processed foods that need little cooking. A vicious circle is set in motion, with poorer people having worse diets and contributing to the worrying rise in obesity, diabetes, and other dietary-related diseases.

The third issue is the problem of stagnant incomes and wages among the low paid. In real terms, according to the ONS, incomes have fallen in the first substantial manner since the 1960s. The ONS calculates that UK workers have experienced a 7.6% fall in real wages during the past six years. Increasing numbers of people on low wages are not earning enough money to meet their most basic nutritional needs.

Our concern is that this situation puts an overwhelming strain on household food budgets. An affordable, nutritious diet is a prerequisite for health. We view the rise of food poverty as an indication of the reversal of what was a long process of improvement in food availability and affordability since World War Two. The full situation is complex. Nonetheless, public debate about food poverty is sometimes too quick to blame the poor without understanding the pressures poorer families are under.

http://www.fph.org.uk/uploads/UK%20Facu ... 0Final.doc (DOC)

Strontium Dog wrote:Found myself in Birkenhead the other morning, which is sometimes unavoidable. There were two women in the newsagents (both in their pyjamas, natch) buying scratchcards and junk food.

All the fault of the bloody Tories, no doubt.

chairman bill wrote:SD seemed to spring to the defence of policy concerning the NHS, even though that has now been deemed an error by the LibDems. I've heard nothing about him being wrong, no doubt because he never is, which means he must still support that policy. So on that issue at least, he's at odds with the LibDems. As we get ever closer to May, and the LibDems back-pedal on more and more policies they've been involved in over the last four years, I can see him getting further & further away from the party. Maybe he'll join the Tories; he does seem in tune with them on so many things.

DaveD wrote:

Strontium Dog wrote:Found myself in Birkenhead the other morning, which is sometimes unavoidable. There were two women in the newsagents (both in their pyjamas, natch) buying scratchcards and junk food.

Doubtless you can furnish us with evidence that these two women received food from a foodbank, which would be the only, albeit weak, reason for burdoning us with this judgemental anecdote.

All the fault of the bloody Tories, no doubt.

As you are, once again, rushing to the defence of the Tories, what plans do you have to distance yourself from them as we get nearer to the General Election next May?