Picture from the Oneness Ministry Website
Today - Russia Today reported "Breadline Britain: Rising malnutrition & death linked to low wages, welfare cuts".
The Western Daily Press reported "The Trussell Trust said there was a 2 per cent annual increase" in the number of food parcels handed out in financial year 2015/16 with over 1.1 million food parcels given out across the UK.
RT reveals "However, the true scale of hunger in the UK could be much greater than the data indicates. A separate report by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hunger, also released on Friday, estimates more than half of the emergency food aid supplied to families in crisis comes from independent foodbanks and organizations not on the Trussell Trust’s radar. "
Yesterday the BBC revealed 130,000 food parcels were given out in Scotland by the Trussell Trust business franchises, a 13 per cent increase on last year's figure, with Scotland now accounting for at least 13% of the food parcels given out across the whole of the UK by the Trussell Trust franchises alone.
So in 2014/15 Scotland has an 11% higher increase in food parcel reliance than the rest of the UK, even before the other half of the food banks report their figures - that is if anyone in authority is actually collating them.
This means the true figure could be closer to a quarter of a million food parcels handed out in Scotland in the past twelve months.
And as food parcels are meant to feed a family for three days, have half a million Scots had to eat from food parcels for three days in the past 12 months?
The DWP social fund was abolished and devolved to councils and the Scottish government and they all chose to refuse to give people crisis loans, as the DWP used to do to ensure no one needs to eat from food parcels.
The Trussell Trust graph shows being refused crisis loans as the lowest referral reason for 2014/15 - well it would as the Scottish government and councils across the UK refuse to issue them any more - the reason why over 1 million people - but more likely over 2 million people were referred to food parcel providers across the UK.
In 2011 the Open Democracy website, helped me publish my first article, Well Trousered Philantrophists,Tory Party Chums and Food Parcels For the Poor, where I warned the government planned to abolish the DWP social fund and devolve it to councils and the Scottish Government, with a recommendation they could partner with the Trussell Trust instead of giving people financial assistance.
Why should people settle for vouchers when the working people of Britain pay the government cold hard cash every week for their national insurance policy - is this because bankers and governments want to turn this into a "cashless society"?
City A.M. reporting in December 2015 "Cashless Britain: Mobile payments are transforming our society - cash could be obsolete in the UK by 2020"
I warned in 2011, abolishing crisis loans would mean at least 2.69 million people could be forced to accept vouchers for food parcels instead of Crisis Loans - and of the Trussell Trust links to Tory Party Welfare Policy writers and David Cameron's "Big Society" tzar Nat Wei.
Prior to this, for months I had spent what little spare time I had naively emailing MSP's, MP's, councillors and newspapers to try to raise awareness - with a reporter from a national newspaper calling me saying "This should be headline news but the owners and editors won't print it. I'm sorry."
Had the people with power, the BCC and Sky, Channel 4 News, rich newspaper barons, MSP's and MP's and councillors across the UK warned in 2011 about this shocking food parcel plan for millions of people in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales, as I had naively hoped, it just might have been stopped.
But they collectively stayed silent, and instead SNP and Labour joined the coalition in rolling out Cameron's food parcel plan right across the UK.
Two years later, my Open Democracy story was still being shared far and wide online and there was growing anger at this food parcel plot.
It took the BBC until April 2014 to finally admit an "additional problem since April 2013 has been the abolition of DWP-funded crisis loans, designed to cover short-term emergencies. Responsibility for these loans has been devolved to local authorities, which can make them harder to access".
David Cameron gave the Scottish Government Scotland's share of the Social Fund (after he cut the budget by over 40%).
Despite writing numerous times to the MSP's warning abolishing crisis loans would result in hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland eating from food parcels the SNP government decided to refuse to offer them anyway.
And just to add insult to injury, the SNP government are funnelling a half million here and a half million there of taxpayers money to prop up Christian Churches food bank business franchises - as the Churches are in financial trouble, with dwindling, aging congregations - and food banks are a financial lifeline and a way to drive the poor back into their clutches, as happened before the welfare state was established.
In 2011 the Trussell Trust accounts show their income as £852,425
Government's Charity Commission Website - Trussell Trust income expenditure
Trussell Trust's 2015 accounts show, within 2 years of crisis loans being abolished, their income has risen to £6.8 million - an eight fold increase since 2011.
The Trussell Trust 2015 accounts state they expended nearly £4.3 million on food banks and over £647,955 on operating their social franchise.
The Trussell Trust food bank franchise is one of a new breed of what is called “social franchises”, which like McDonalds, charges others for the franchise but unlike commercial franchises are considered to be “social enterprises” which usually re-invest a minimum of 50% of the profits back in to the business or the strategic cause the franchise supports.
Social enterprises and social franchises can be set up as a business or a charity and be set up for profit.
Dan Berelowitz, former fundraiser for the New Israel Fund and the founder and Chief Executive of The International Centre for Social Franchising, undertook a study comparing McDonald’s commercial franchise to the Trussell Trust social franchise.
According to his report, "Social Franchising Innovation and the power of old ideas" - for the successful growth of the Trussell Trust’s food bank franchise “credibility is all important”.
Page 10 of the report reveals the Trussell Trust target market for their franchise business growth is Churches – and what’s more "credible" and trusted in a community than a church - where the Trussell Trust can expect churches to not only spread the word of God but the Trussell Trust franchise name too.
The report quotes Trussell Trust staff saying
""having an established network of churches makes it relatively easy for the trussell trust to find a ready supply of franchisees with little need for advertising.""
The Trussell Trust staff are also quoted as saying
""it is important that franchisees understand the value of the pre-existing knowledge and infrastructure that the trussell trust has built up, rather than expecting it ‘for free’ because they are starting a charity.""
The report reveals churches actually have to pay £1500 to the Trussell Trust for the franchise, which the Trussell Trust refer to as a start- up “donation” rather than a business franchise fee.
Churches then must find a further £360 per year “donation” for the Trussell Trust’s franchise support with the charity claiming this only covers about a third of the franchise costs and they cover the other two thirds.
In the report, an interviewee is quoted as saying
“When they are contacted the first document that we send them is the terms and conditions and a little bit of an explanation as to how the Foodbank works. It says who we are, what we do and it basically outlines how we work. Then there are the conditions and the money.”
The report goes on to say Churches are already struggling to find the money to sustain the franchise and the Trussell Trust recommends Churches could set up other “social enterprises” to cover their Trussell Trust fees.
The Trussell Trust needs more franchises to be set up to support their central office and they are continually looking for ways for them to secure more funding.
Trussell Trust understand, more than anyone, there is no successful business model without vulnerable people to support every franchise business they sign up with Trussell Trust staff member quoted as saying
"Crucially, franchisee groups also need to be well connected with other key organisations working with vulnerable people in their local community"
- otherwise there is no business to be had for any of them for their new "charity" businesses.
So while Churches and their volunteers all over the country actually operate food banks and feed the poor, they are struggling to fund their outlays for the franchise - most media reports give the Trussell Trust charity all the credit.
In a second report,
Lambie, H. (2011) ‘The Trussell Trust Foodbank Network: Exploring the Growth of Foodbanks Across the UK’ (report to the Trussell Trust), Coventry"
looked at the increase of the number of Trussell Trust food banks in Britain, discussing the Trussell Trust’s strategy choice of creating a franchise for their food bank business one “strategic interviewee” was quoted as saying
“‘we were absolutely convinced we had a system we’d designed that was very effective, so we didn’t want it to be adapted inappropriately and then the whole problem of quality being cut back and screwed up basically by well-meaning volunteers who thought they knew better when we’d researched it for three years and evaluated it and fine tuned it’.
Despite this disparaging comment about volunteers a report by MP's on Friday revealed more than half the food banks operating around the country, run by volunteers in charities and community groups, are not affiliated with the Trussell Trust.
These food banks don't have to pay Trussell Trust high franchise fees, or use their "brand", which allows them to concentrate all their efforts and their scarce funds purely in feeding local people rather than having the on-going worry about finding funds for a “franchisor” or any restrictions they impose.
So while churches and Christian organisations and 40,000 volunteers across the UK actually run the food banks - the Trussell Trust continually gets given (and claims) the credit (as well as the franchise fees).
So who else benefits from the rise of the food bank?
When Ian Duncan Smith agreed to a pilot scheme where Job Centre staff would be asked to hand out Trussell Trust food parcel vouchers, when people were refused crisis loans, he stated in parliament,
Despite this statement, Ian Duncan Smith went against these words and decided to scrap DWP crisis loans from April 2013, with a recommendation in England councils who get the DWP fund transferred to them and they could , if they wished keep the money for other uses and refer the annual possible 2,690,000 claimants and their families to the Trussell Trust instead for food parcels.
On page 11 of Dan Berelowitz’s Trussell Trust v McDonalds report he quotes an interviewee as saying
“the Government has now also “agreed that they can trust Foodbank when people are in crisis,” adding that :“They (the government) are getting something for nothing, and they are getting something for nothing from an organisation that is credible. Credibility is all-important, and reputation.”
So despite crisis loans being just a tiny 0.00068% of the DWP budget and costing us nothing, as unlike other benefits crisis loans are paid back, Ian Duncan Smith decided he likes the possibility of other people benefitting from people in crisis with his recommendation millions of people in England are sent to food banks instead.
And despite the tiny size of this budget, Ian Duncan Smith decided to make things even worse by deliberately cutting the budget : giving councils less than half the amount of the budget available to the DWP in 2009, with one council reporting a 43% cut on the budget they are being given, when compared to what the DWP had available in 2012.
Some councils across the UK planned to use the funds to give the food banks money instead of giving out loans as the DWP currently do to people who need help - proving food banks are not something for nothing after all.
Why should food banks get paid for food they got for free – donated by taxpayers? Is this to ensure the Trussell Trust franchise costs are covered for churches and the Trussell Trust?
And what food are food banks providing as an alternative to people using small loans they pay back to buy fresh food locally?
The Trussell Trust food parcels had no fresh milk, no fresh bread, no fresh meat and no fresh vegetables and families are expected to live off these food parcels for 3 days -
the Trussell Trust claims their food parcels are designed to be healthy and nutritious.
This treats the poor worse than prisoners, with a charity deciding if people get to eat and what people get to eat - and none of it fresh - for 3 days.
Imagine if, before the roll out of food parcels a worried neighbour phoned social work with concerns the children next door had not been fed any fresh food for 3 days - I'm sure social work would be out checking immediately on the children's well being.
With the Scottish State in charge since 2013, they decided food parcels with no fresh food for 3 days is their idea of looking after the well being of children - food parcels rather that crisis loans to buy fresh food locally, if people don't qualify for a crisis grant.
And as many towns don't have food banks this means prenant women, pensioners, families with children, with no money, trecking for miles to collect and carry home heavy food parcels, with no fresh food - insead of buying fresh food locally, as they would with a crisis loan, in their own community, keeping their dignity and the ability to decide what they will buy for dinner - fresh bread, fresh milk, fresh meat, fish and vegetables rather than some "charity" board deciding if they get to eat and what they get to eat.
Food parcels instead of crisis loans is a PPI Benefits "policy" by a Scottish Government who refuse to give cash as benefits as has happened very successfuly for 70 years - it appears none of us can be trusted with cash and we are all to be treated as if we are alcoholics and drug addicts.
What next? Will we have up to half a million people who cannot to pay their energy bills huddled round "Big Society" - "charity" - brazier banks, due to slashed hours of work, zero hours contracts, low wages and slashed benefits - huddled together toasting bread above the fire - oh I forgot there is no fresh bread in the food parcels.
The government recommended food bank scheme relies on the public (taxpayers) not only working to buy food for their own families but now we must all work to buy food for other families too - to donate to these food banks via supermarket collection points - increasing their profits too - as well as paying NI contributions that more and more PPI policy clauses ensure when we lose our jobs or our hours get cut we must stand in line with food parcel vouchers too - regardless of how many years we have been paying 12% of our wages every week.
When we all pay the same national insurance contributions why are we not entitled to the same benefits - as under this system a person in one town in England or Scotland might be told they are entitled to nothing - as it is at the council's discretion - while his fellow worker, who lives in the next town can get help. as that council has the freedom to have a completely different system and policies.
But we must also ask the question - as the public donate the food free - out of the goodness of their heart and over 40,000 volunteers run food bank- why are councils and government and the Trussell Trust business franchisor in any way involved with foodbanks - why do they have the power to decide if we get food parcel vouchers or not - to decide IF we get to eat and WHAT we get to eat?
Should hard pressed families who have already faced VAT hikes, pay cuts, pension contribution increases, withdrawal of their child benefit and huge cuts in tax credits be expected to buy extra groceries to support a government policy of denying people access to benefits they can pay back?
The “City Of London” liked it enough to have “partnered” with the Trussell Trust early on - and just two weeks after crisis loans were abolished, the Trussell Trust applied for a £65,000 grant from the City of London "The City Bridge Trust" for each year 2013, 2014 and 2015 so the Trussell Trust and the City Boys could set up food banks in every Burgh of London together.
Asda, Waitrose and Tesco all signed up to “support” the Trussell Trust in December 2012 - four months before the government's food parcel strategy was being rolled out- with the shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creoch saying “this was tremendous news” while the Daily Mirror stated they were fighting this scandal
But of course, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose can get double “benefits” from their support of this Trussell Trust food bank scheme.
The first benefit for these giant retailers is from people buying extra food in their stores to fill these food banks (while all the small local retailers lose out on business as nearly 3 million families are denied the ability to shop locally with crisis loans).
And as well as boosting their profits the added “benefit” for Asda, Tesco and Waitrose is the full cost of every single piece of food donated to the Trussell Trust by these companies is 100% tax deductible under HMRC’s “Gifts Of Trading Stock” tax rules.
Kellogg’s got in on the act early on too as in March 2013 they declared they were donating breakfast cereals to the Trussell Trust for the next 3 years, despite the fact there was no fresh milk in a Trussell Trust food parcel.
And with Kellogg’s calling for the government to “monitor food poverty” while we are all calling for the government to monitor “food quality” there is no mention from Kellogg’s on the “quality” or “sell by date” on the food donations they will be making.
And of course Kellogg’s can also claim 100% tax breaks on the full cost price of these “charitable food donations”, regardless of the quality or age of food donations, over and above the tax breaks they gave themselves when they moved their headquarters to Dublin in 2005 for tax purposes while laying off British workers in 2006!
When Will Kellogg started Kellogg’s in 1906 he used to say: ‘I’ll invest my money in people.’ – now Kellogg’s invest in moving countries to avoid paying tax - why the DWP social fund is being slashed with Kellogg's getting the benefits (instead of the people who have paid tax) with 100% tax deductible food bank donations instead.
Would Asda, Tesco, Waitrose and Kellogg’s be donating food to the Trussell Trust if these donations were not 100% tax deductible - while we, the people who pay tax directly from our wages, don’t get tax deductions for the food we buy to donate?
The Big Lottery Fund enriched the Trussell Trust with £748,423 in December 2015 - while millions eat from food parcels yet Christ Mould claims "Food poverty in Britain is set to worsen in the coming years, he fears. “We have to face the reality that what we are seeing now is just the beginning"
Why is that because corporations avoid paying their taxes - resulting in huge cuts to DWP budgets - and instead they divert the money and goods they can get 100% tax rebates on the cost of - into Trussell Trust coffers where they all benefit instead?
And while the Guardian reports government claims that “the government are embarrassed by food banks and this is not the big society David Cameron planned”, on the contrary, the deliberate scrapping of the DWP social fund’s crisis loans, coupled with a government recommendation councils send people to the Trussell Trust instead, proves this is exactly what David Cameron planned
Especially when Nat Wei, David Cameron's Big Society policy tsar set up a company, The Shaftesbury Parnership to roll out David Cameron's plans, and the company invited the then director of the Trussell Trust, Chris Mould, to come work with the company with failed Tory candidates and Tory Party Welfare policy writers.
In April 2012, Trussell Trust's now Executive Chair, Chris Mould, wrote a blog on the Shaftesbury Partnership website, - Successful Scaling Foodbanks - which states "The Trussell Trust aims to have launched 450 foodbanks by April 2015 so slowing down is not an option"
Proving for all Chris Mould protests the plan was to roll out hundreds of food banks across Britain all along.