http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Foodbank-users-spend-money-tattoos-dog-food-says/story-20453988-detail/story.html
EDWINA Curry aired her controversial views this morning on BBC Radio Stoke.
The former MP spoke out about her disagreement with
foodbanks being a long term solution even going as far as to question
the need for them in this country.
She said: “For the life of me I can’t see how giving
someone a tin of soup when they are suffering from a mental illness or
when they’ve got debt problems is going to contribute in any long term
way to solving their problems.
“It is such a short term help. If people have got into debt
one of the key things that they should be asking themselves is why did I
get into debt and what did I do that was stupid to get into debt and
what can I avoid doing in the future? How do I actually take control of
my life so that I am not in this situation?”
The novelist and broadcaster added: “One of the things I
think an older generation like myself and perhaps even older than that,
like my grandparents who lived in real poverty in Liverpool, what they
all realised is that difficult times do come and that what you have to
do in the good times is to put a little bit of money to one side to make
sure that you have got that as support.
“I get very, very troubled at the number of people who are
using food banks who think that it’s fine to pay to feed their dog,
their dog is in good nick and beautiful, but they never learn to cook,
they never learn to manage and the moment they’ve got a bit of spare
cash they’re off getting another tattoo.
“We should feel cross about this, all of us.”
Edwina stated that she disagrees with local authorities across the country contributing funds to foodbanks.
Figures show that the amount of people visiting these services in the UK has tripled since 2012.
Nikki Sinclaire, MEP for the West Midlands who has helped
to donate and deliver three tons of food to foodbanks was left
speechless by Edwina’s comments.
She said: “This type of perpetuating myth that poor people
are filling their boots, people on benefits, not all people that go to
foodbanks are on benefits.
“Generally foodbanks work on a system where they can only go there two or three times.
“The comments Edwina is making, I find that they have no relation to reality.”
Nikki then challenged Edwina to spend a day at a Stoke
foodbank with her where she could meet and talk to the people in need of
support.
She then responded to Edwina and said: “You don’t represent
anyone, you are spouting off and its absolutely terrible and what
you’re breeding is a hate towards these people.”
