I came into politics to do everything I could to ensure that every single child in every single family has the best possible start in life. So I feel strongly that the existence of food banks in 2026 is stain on our conscience. We know that the cumulative effect of inflation meant that UK food prices rose by a total of 38.6% between 2020 and 2025.
But how do we begin to tackle this? Maybe we have to start by going back in history. During the Second World War, as all kind of items became scarce, the rationing system tried to ensure an equitable distribution of all the essentials. But there was one exception to this. Eating out was “off the ration.” So long as you could afford to go to a nice restaurant, you didn’t need to give a second thought to rationing.
Much has changed, of course. In 1945, the new Labour Government rebuilt the country, built a welfare state and built the National Health Service. But if we are to make any honest and thoughtful assessment of how far we have come since 1945, the first thing that we need to look to is whether every family can afford nutritious food and does not have to make choices to go without it.
Trussell’s second Hunger in the UK report found that in 2024, 14.1 million people, including 3.8 million children, lived in food insecure households. How did we get here? This is an income problem, a poverty problem and a structural problem. We need to have an honest conversation about all three.
We know that UK food inflation is generally higher than our neighbours in Europe. The UK and the EU agreed a new Strategic Partnership last year including an agreement to work towards a Common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area (SPS) agreement to make agri-food trade easier. The government estimates that an SPS deal will add £9bn to the UK economy in the long term.
Let’s also look at what else has worked. As a former Borough Leader, I introduced free school meals for all primary school children. It was a great equaliser and social leveller. Children were more focussed and made better progress. Families who were just about managing saved money. And there was no stigma, everyone sat together.
Free school meals for all primary school children were subsequently rolled out across London and more secondary school children will benefit under this Government too.
Most importantly of all, the two-child cap on universal credit has now been scrapped. This is the most cost-effective way to lift half a million children out of poverty. We will see the benefits of this for families across the country from April this year.
What else can we do? Firstly, we could implement an Essentials Guarantee This would embed in our social security system the widely supported principle that, at a minimum, Universal Credit should protect households from going without the essentials. Most people expect our social security system to be set up according to need. It’s what we already do with the minimum wage.
Secondly, we need a protected minimum floor in Universal Credit: to provide a safety net below which no one should fall.
Thirdly, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) needs to keep up with the reality of private rents. If LHA remains frozen over the course of this parliament, on average, private renters on housing benefits will be around £700 worse off per year by 2029. Fifty thousand renters will be pulled into poverty.
Finally, what about a publicly backed food hub or wholesale platform, that could work with local suppliers to help them to supply food to schools and households in their area at stable, affordable prices? This could help develop thriving and inclusive local economies.
If we want every child in every family to have the best possible chance in life, step one is doing everything we can to end the need for families to use food banks. This is how we put our values into action.
Whatever your political persuasion, politics at its best is about values.
