Rishi Sunak has marked one year of being Prime Minister in the same week it was announced that one million British children now live in destitution.
This is an appalling situation and requires action from Sunak.
Research shows that children in poverty do not achieve as well as they should in school, and this has an impact on their classmates and their own ability to learn and contribute. There are known health inequalities from poverty that mean avoidable NHS costs long-term. So Ministers failing kids now are also failing Britain’s future.
Labour in Government reduced child poverty and legislated to abolish child poverty by 2020. The Tories have increased child poverty and abolished the legislation!
The anniversary of Sunak being PM also saw the scrapping of the cap on bakers’ bonuses. Politics is about priorities. This Government’s priorities are obscene and out-of-step with Southwark.
I opened an emergency foodbank in my Bermondsey office in 2017 to help local people. Six years later and the explosion in foodbank dependency continues under Tory rule with thousands still reliant on foodbanks in our borough.
Sunak set himself priorities last year including cutting NHS waiting lists, stopping the boats crossing the Channel, and halving inflation.
He has failed on all three: waiting lists surpass 7.5 million, the boats continue with Afghans who worked for the UK forming the largest group, and inflation is still driving up food prices and people’s mortgages now cost £500 a month extra due to the disastrous Tory ‘mini-Budget’.
Sunak was not elected PM: he was appointed by Tory MPs. But he was serving on his 2019 election manifesto which included commitments to mental healthcare reform (abandoned), social care reform (abandoned), and retaining our armed forces personnel (also abandoned).
Sunak also scrapped his manifesto commitment to sustaining international aid and the last few weeks have exposed what that means in practice.
UK aid to Palestine was over £50 million in 2019 but Ministers have cut it to £10 million. Palestine needs that aid now more than ever and I’ve been contacted by over a thousand people about the crisis.
The humanitarian emergency needs urgent resolution. Help must reach those in need. But Palestinians also need hope for the future based on a long-term, viable peace. To reach that position requires Israel, the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the UK to cooperate. This cannot come about with Hamas.
Sadly, we know the impact of terrorism in our community after the Borough Market attack, but Hamas committed vile atrocities on 7th October and its leaders still call for further attacks on innocents. The only part Hamas can play to help restore peace is to return the 200 Israeli hostages.
Palestinians are ultimately being failed by Hamas and the UK must play our part in ensuring an alternative to their vile ideology through a clear future under a Palestinian Authority equipped to work alongside Israel for a permanent peace.
As ever, if you’re a constituent and would like to discuss local or global issues with me please drop me a line at: Neil.Coyle.MP@parliament.uk