There are few things more disappointing than knowing that in a country ranked as the 7th wealthiest in the world that one million people are having to access food banks in order to escape the wrath of the Condem's austerity measures. The attack on the poor, and those reliant on state benefits, such as the disabled, has never been so purposeful - even under Thatcher, the poor couldn't have found themselves more at the mercy of the Conservative mantra of the 'haves and have-nots'.
So it would seem that after such a furious attack on the austerity measures and their impact on those who find themselves most categorically members of the have-nots, that the right wing press are out to straighten things up once and for all. Today, the Mail on Sunday (with its keen white, middle-class, Christian readership) must have been delighted with the latest deception to journalism. The headline which claims three days worth of food was obtained by Simon Murphy, a 'journalist', 'with no questions asked' was in fact, a process where a significant number of questions were asked and it would appear that this particular journalist (no doubt championed by his ethically questionable editor) answered all the questions as if he was in fact destitute. Now, as we all know with the Mail on Sunday, we must not let the facts get in the way of a good fiction, as ever...
The facts are that the food bank system is accessible for those who are desperate for something to eat - if you are the type to lie about your situation, then the system may well believe your lies and provide you with food - this doesn't prove that the food bank system is full of scroungers - it proves that the system is the only thing catching those desperate enough to have no food to feed themselves or their families. This story merely proves that if you're happy to lie to prove a point and obtain things by deception, and you say you meet the criteria, some systems will support it - a bit like Maria Miller, and the numerous others, who fabricated their expenses in order to rip off the Great British Taxpayer; it doesn't prove that the system isn't valid - in and of itself - it merely proves that deception works - do you really think the other million people who have accessed food banks in the past year have had the luxury of lying? Seriously?
I do hope this piece of right wing vitriol sits squarely with the delightful Christian values of Cameron's Christ-like aspirations. Oh, and Happy Easter... One suspects that we should all be grateful that the benevolent Government and right-wing press have had a day off from victimising the poor... Oh, wait...
There's a petition that needs signing - remember to use your real name, and tell the truth, eh?