Labour’s priority must be to restore Sure Start and financial support to low-income families
There is a depressing reality related to the poverty figures that show that last year one in six British children lived in families suffering from food insecurity and one in 40 children lived in a family that accessed a food bank in the previous 30 days (“Poverty data is a mark of shame for Tory rule”). The punishing austerity package that George Osborne and David Cameron inflicted on those who are trapped in low-income families was the benchmark for the years of rising poverty levels that we see today.
You correctly highlight the need for Labour, if they win the next election, to prioritise lifting children and their families out of poverty. Alongside reversing tax cuts and borrowing to restore financial support to low-income families, they should also restore New Labour’s flagship Sure Start policy, invest in our crumbling schools infrastructure, incentivise teachers and ensure that NHS staff, rail workers and other people on low incomes are paid a decent wage in a secure job.
Stuart Finegan
Lewes, East Sussex
