Iain Duncan Smith: Stop bullying Britain's food banks
My home of Gloucestershire, known for it's royal residences, celebrity homes and Londoners' swanky weekend pads, is also home to a rising number of families living in the shadows of that immense wealth who too often struggle to afford basic foodstuffs to feed their children and elderly.
The Government's apparent plot revealed in The Independent last week, was truly shocking for us volunteers. Senior Government figures may have attempted to deny this plot but Chris Mould, chair of the Trussell Trust, has revealed that government officials issued "angry threats' to shut down the Trust.
If the Trussell Trust continues to be bullied into closure the Government will have been responsible for starving out Britain's poor. Please join me in calling on Iain Duncan Smith, our Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to make a public pledge to protect Britain's food banks once and for all.
If we can get more than 10,000 signatures I will travel to London with a group of food bank volunteers and those who have benefited from the service, and deliver this petition directly to Mr Duncan Smith.
People struggling to survive cannot rely on the food bank to live. But when they are in real dire straits, they can come to us for an emergency food parcel, having been referred by GPs, health visitors and schools, which will tide them over for a short period to help them get back on their feet. They can only use this service three times - so they know they cannot rely on us all the time.
Please join me in building a massive public outcry across the UK to hold our elected officials to account and tell them they cannot close down a life-saving service. Sign the petition now.