In this post, Mike comprehensively refutes IDS claims that the rise in foodbanks, and poverty in general, was not due to the government’s welfare reforms. This in response to RTU’s statement, quoted in the Observer, that the Trussell Trust was merely attacking government policy in order to gain publicity that would allow it to expand. Mike points out that this statement is nonsensical, when applied to a charity that makes it absolutely clear that it would not like to do what they are forced to by the government’s policies. One of the most profound problems with the government’s Neo-Liberal policies is that they apply economic and management models from commercial, profit-making businesses, and apply them to areas where they cannot, such as the provision of vital services. Everything is seen purely in business terms. This attack by Smith on the Trussell Trust exemplifies this attitude. It’s an accurate statement of the attitude and values, not of the Trussell Trust, but of IDS and his superiors, Cameron and Osborne.
Iain Duncan Smith needs to think before making unwise statements.
He was in the headlines over the weekend after he accused food bank charity The Trussell Trust of “scaremongering” in order to get publicity for its work.
Refusing to meet representatives of the trust – thereby reneging (in advance!) on a promise we all heard during the food bank debate in Parliament last week – he stated in a letter written during November that the increased poverty forcing people to seek food bank aid was not linked to his regressive changes in the social security system, and that the charity was using this claim to get publicity for itself.
Quoted in The Observer, his letter began by criticising the “political messaging of your organisation”, which “despite claiming to be nonpartisan” had “repeatedly sought to link the growth in your network to welfare reform”.
He went on to reject suggestions that the…
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