Originally Posted by
JamesWales
It's not a staggering reply. I think it's true. Certain people like to exploit them for political purposes.
As explained,
1 / They exist across Europe and the world and have grown at broadly the same rates irrespective of government colour in those countries.
2 / They are more prominent in parts of the UK where the UK govt has less control over poverty reduction (ie, healthcare, job creation, education, transport etc)
ergo, for people to just lazily blame the UK government is politicising it and not getting to the root of the problem. It is NOT helping to solve the problem. It's politicising it but not helping the issue as the issues go way beyond who is in power in Westminster. The UK govt are undoubtedly part of the story, but not the whole story.
This is a classic example, where the MP we are discussing is saying the foodbank he volunteers at requires people to undertake a course in budget management and cookery - wholly positive things that will only help people over the long term, whilst also helping in the immediate short term. He's right in what he says.