Unite: Food banks 'a way of life' for thousands

The original concept of food banks was that they should be a last resort safety net – but it now appears that they are becoming a way of life for hundreds of thousands of people through no fault of their own.

The Tories may pretend that food banks are an affirmation of the so-called ‘Big Society’, but the fact that an increasing number of people are using them just to survive is a searing indictment of this government, whose polices are pushing thousands of families into grinding poverty.

The Trussell Trust, the UK’s biggest provider of food banks, does sterling work, but it can’t be expected to pick up the tab for the failed economic policies of George Osborne and the divisive welfare ‘reforms’ of Iain Duncan Smith.