Foodbank providers have demanded greater government action to end hunger as they brace themselves for the busiest December on record.

The Trussell Trust, which runs a network of food banks across the UK, has released new data which suggests more people than ever will need their help top stay fed this Christmas.

As the UK heads to the polls on December 12, the charity called on the next Prime Minister to make eradicating food bank dependence a top priority.

This rise in food insecurity has been blamed on government cuts and payment delays as a result of Universal Credit.

But the Tory party has been reluctant to attribute food bank usage to their welfare reforms, instead coming up with their own explanations for the crisis.

Here’s a reminder of what senior Tory MPs  think is really to blame for food bank usage.

Michael Gove – ‘Poor People are to blame’

In 2013, then Education Secretary Michael Gove said families who were forced to use food banks only have themselves to blame because they are ‘unable to manage their finances’.

At the time, charities had warned more than half a million people were relying on them for food, and blamed cuts to benefits, frozen wages and rising living costs

But Mr Gove argued people couldn’t afford to feed themselves because of their ‘own decisions’.

He said: ‘I appreciate that there are families who face considerable pressures.

‘Those pressures are often the result of decisions that they have taken which mean they are not best able to manage their finances.

‘We need to ensure that support is not just financial, and that the right decisions are made.’

Jacob Rees Mogg – People only discovered food banks existed ‘when the Tories came to power’

In 2017, Jacob Rees Mogg appeared to defend the rise of food banks by saying they were ‘uplifting’ and showed ‘what a compassionate country we are’.

He told LBC radio the only reason for the rise in their use was ‘that people know that they are there’ and accused the former Labour government of failing to inform people of their existence.

This changed when the Tories came to power, who allowed Jobcentre Plus to tell people food banks were available, he said.

He then went on to say food banks fulfilled a vital function in society.

He said: ‘To have charitable support given by people voluntarily to support their fellow citizens I think is rather uplifting and shows what a good, compassionate country we are.

‘Inevitably, the state can’t do everything, so I think that there is good within food banks.

‘The real reason for the rise in numbers is that people know that they are there and Labour deliberately didn’t tell them.’

How many people use food banks?

New research from Trussel Trust shows:

December 2018 was the busiest month for food banks last year.

186,185 three-day emergency food parcels were provided to people in crisis last December, with 78,536 of these going to children.

This was 44% higher than the monthly average for the 2018-19 financial year.

April to September 2019 was the busiest half-year period for food banks in the Trussel Trust network since the charity opened.

During those six months, 823,145 three-day emergency food parcels were given to people in crisis in the UK, with more than a third of these (301,653) going to children.

The charity said this is a 23% increase on the same period in 2018 – the sharpest rate of increase the charity has seen for the past five years.

Dominic Raab – ‘It’s a cashflow problem’

Tory minister Dominic Raab has also been blasted for ‘stupid and offensive’ food bank comments.

The senior conservative said people who use food banks typically do so not because of poverty but because they have an occasional ‘cashflow problem’.

He was being asked about the economy on BBC2’s Victoria Derbyshire programme when he made the comments, which were met with jeers from the audience..

He said he was citing Trussell Trust statistics which showed delays to benefit payments were one of the main reasons people turned to a food bank– but they refuted his claim and suggested their data was taken out of context.

The foodbank charity said while benefit delays were a factor in food insecurity, the crisis was exacerbated by poverty and low pay, which were also direct causes for many to seek assistance.

Esther McVey – ‘People are prioritising phones over food’  

Former DWP boss Esther Mcvey has been widely criticised for her unsympathetic comments about people living in poverty.

Her record of controversial claims include suggesting families are struggling to provide for themselves because they prioritise phones over food, and  saying that it is ‘right’ people are using food banks because debt acquired under Labour required ‘tough’ action from the government.

Referencing the proliferation of food banks in an interview with the Times in May she said: ‘When I was growing up my parents put money into food, utility bills and the mortgage.

‘Now people feel to be connected they’ve got to have an iPad and a phone that will help them with education and jobs.’

The interview came after she quit as Welfare Minister over Theresa May’s Brexit policy- an appointment which in itself caused controversy.

After news of her new cabinet role was announced, a clip of Ms McVey discussing the rise of the use of foodbanks in 2013 resurfaced, in which she said it was ‘right’ people could not afford to buy their own food.

In the clip she stated: ‘In the UK it is right that, you know, more people are visiting – as you would expect – going to foodbanks, because as times are tough, as we are all having to pay back this £1.5 trillion debt which spiralled under Labour.

‘As we are all trying to live within our means, change the gear, make sure we are paying back all the debt which happened under them.’

She then compared Britain’s 60,000 food bank users to 1.5million in Germany to point out the number was relatively low.

Figures have soared since her speech, with the number of parcels handed out by the Trussell Trust foodbank charity soaring to 1.6 million this year.

Priti Patel -‘It’s the local government’

It’s not just past comments which suggest the Tories don’t believe their polices have contributed to a rise in food bank usage.

Less than a week ago, Priti Patel said the government ‘wasn’t to blame’ for poverty  and instead highlighted the role of local authorities and education services – which receive the bulk of their funding from central government….

According to the Local Government Association, in the decade to 2020, local authorities will have faced a reduction of funding from the government of nearly £16 billion.

Last year, the UN reported that 14 million people in the UK are in poverty as a direct result of government austerity.

Last week Ms Patel was in Barrow Cumbria, when she was was is told four in 10 children are born into poverty.

She replied to the statistics by saying: ‘Well it’s not the government though, is it?

‘Everybody says it’s the government as if it’s this bland blob that you can just go and blame.

‘It’s all parts of society and the structures, local authorities have a role to play, education, public services which are locally led and locally run.’

The Conservative Party have been contacted for comment.

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