Readers respond to Gordon Brown’s plan to get Britain out of a doom loop of poverty and despair
Gordon Brown’s article is certainly timely (Britain seems stuck in a doom loop of poverty. I have a plan to raise billions to address that, 27 March). However, his proposal for a new, temporary partnership of communities, charities, companies and government, creating “headroom” to fix our social security system, risks further institutionalising a charitable response to poverty.
The mind-blowing Department for Work and Pensions poverty statistics published on 21 March are incontrovertible. A record 3.7 million people reported severe food insecurity in 2022-23, up by 1.5 million on the previous year. Charitable support in any form might alleviate hardship, but won’t address the root causes of poverty, nor bring down those figures. And, as last month’s data also makes clear, most households struggling to afford food don’t seek out help.
