Even before Covid struck, far too many children in Britain were living in poverty.
What was already a national emergency now threatens to become a national disaster because of the pandemic.
Welfare cuts, job losses, low wages and inadequate sick pay have resulted in those with the least being hit the hardest.
An additional one million people, including 200,000 kids, face poverty due to the virus.
One study has found that since March nearly two million children have gone hungry at some point. More and more families are having to turn to charities for support.
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We should be ashamed as a nation that foodbanks are having to provide more than two million meals in the run-up to Christmas.
Yet the Government appears blind to all this. In Rishi Sunak’s statement last month there was nothing to help those most in need.
If the Chancellor is serious about ending child hunger he should increase child benefit, make the £20 universal credit rise permanent and expand the eligibility for free school meals.
Child poverty can be tackled, as Labour showed in office. Our Tory leaders lack the compassion and political will to do so.
Deal is crucial
The uncertainty over Brexit has already cost jobs and investment.
This situation will only get worse if Boris Johnson and the EU fail to strike a trade deal.
The stakes are underlined by Tesco boss’s warning that food prices will rise and deliveries be disrupted if no agreement is reached.
Nobody wishes to re-fight the old wars over Brexit. What people want is the Prime Minister to deliver on his promise and secure a deal that protects business and keeps people in work.
For the talks to collapse would be a failure of statecraft. We should not end up having to pay the price.
1st-class hero
An ex-postman who won £2.6million on the lottery is delivering again – with gifts for staff working at a hospice.
This first-class gesture by Matt Evans gets our stamp of approval.
