Austerity and the rise of food banks

In the first of the four pre-election television debates, interviewer Jeremy Paxman asked the UK prime minister, David Cameron, “How many food banks were there in this country when you came to power?” Looking slightly flummoxed, Cameron replied, “I don’t know the exact figures, but I know use of food banks has gone up.” Paxman pointed out that since 2010 the number of food banks had risen from 66 to 421, while around 900 000 people had received free food parcels last year. Paxman then challenged the prime minister to say whether or not it was “acceptable in a rich country like ours that there are that number of people dependent on free food aid.” Cameron …