This is a detailed criticism of the arguments of Robin Aitken, a Tory MP whose attempts to argue against the government’s austerity programme as a cause for the rise in food banks have appeared in a number of Tory papers, such as the Daily Fail. Almost needless to say, he’s also one of those who moans about how the BBC is dominated by Lefties. One of the most important points in the article is, however, the fact that the DWP has removed from the food bank vouchers the boxes giving the reasons for the referral, such as delays to benefit and so on. Clearly, for all their denials the Coalition know very well that their reforms are at the heart of the growing poverty in Britain. They just don’t want the public to know. This is in line with their refusal to release the stats on the number of people, who have died after being assessed as fit for work, to critical scrutiny by members of the public, such as Mike Sivier over at Vox Political.
Robin Aitken – right-wing Tory behind Oxford food bank who thinks the welfare state is “obese”!
Robin Aitken, co-founder of the Oxford food bank, has featured prominently in the debate which has raged in recent months over the reasons for the dramatic rise in people using food banks. Aitken claims that there is no reliable evidence connecting austerity and the increase in food bank use. His views have appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and most recently, on the BBC. These media outlets like to contrast his views with those of the Trussell Trust – the UK’s biggest foodbank network – which has insisted repeatedly that welfare reform is the biggest driver of demand for food parcels.
Trussell Trust chairman Chris Mould said in March this year:“We’ve kept statistics for the 14 years we’ve run food banks.
“This gives a powerful answer why people are in need…
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