Andrew Cooper

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this crucial debate. The alarming fact is that after 14 years of Tory Government, food bank use is a significant problem in every constituency in every corner of the country, as we have heard. We are lucky in Winsford, Northwich and Middlewich to have some truly dedicated volunteers keeping our food banks going. We also have charities, such as Changing Lives Together, that run no-food-waste projects which, in addition to reducing the amount of perfectly good food that is disposed of, offer people the dignity of choice while paying a small contribution towards their food. At Mid Cheshire food bank, nearly 6,600 parcels of food were distributed in the last 12 months, with 38% of them having gone to children. These are not just troubling statistics: they reflect the struggles faced by countless individuals and families in the communities I represent. They may be struggling to cope with debts, changes in their benefit entitlement, ill health, domestic violence or family breakdown. Over recent years, the previous Tory Government’s cost of living crisis has left more and more people grappling with the soaring prices of essential goods; skyrocketing energy bills have strained tight budgets; rising housing costs have burdened those who were already stretched thin, making it increasingly difficult to find safe, decent and affordable accommodation; and stagnating wages and the prevalence of insecure work have only compounded the challenges, leaving people in a perpetual state of uncertainty. This has got to change. We now have a Government in place that will prioritise the wellbeing of individuals, families and entire communities; a Government that will address the root causes of poverty and food security; and a Government that will ensure that everybody has access to fair wages, affordable housing and secure employment opportunities, thereby raising living standards and lifting people out of poverty. We must continue to strive to create a society in which every individual has access to the basic necessities and no one is forced to rely on a food bank to survive.