David Cameron is being totally disingenuous on food banks

Yesterday during Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron responded to a question on food banks by claiming that the use of food banks increased "ten times under Labour". When Cameron says this he is factually correct. He is being totally disingenuous, however.

Yesterday during Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron responded to a question by claiming that the use of food banks had increased “ten times under Labour“.

When Cameron says this he is factually correct. He is being totally disingenuous, however.

As the chart below shows, the number of people using foodbanks in 2005/06 – five years after the first one opened in Salisbury – had increased “ten times” by the time Labour left office in 2010. By more than ten times, actually; the real figure is closer to a seventeen fold increase.

What David Cameron fails to mention, however, is that whereas under the previous government the number of people using foodbanks gradually climbed over five years, under the coalition this figure has shot up dramatically – to 128,697 last year, an increase of 4,573% on the figures for 2005. (see the Trussell Trust graph below).

In terms of the number of foodbanks (as opposed to the number of people using them), the next graph below shows the rate at which they have increased in the last nine years. I don’t think it requires any further comment from me.

Foodbank numbers

38 Responses to “David Cameron is being totally disingenuous on food banks”

  1. Diogenesthered

    He probably uses a logarithmic scale on his documents so that it hides the scale of the rate of increase.

  2. SadButMadLad

    And of those thousands using foodbanks, how many actually and really do need them. As opposed to using them as a source of free food to offset the purchase of products which are more luxuries than necessities. When food is so cheap compared to past times there is not much excuse to not be able to afford tinned beans and cheap bread to survive on. Note that I say survive, as opposed to have a totally balanced diet of varied vegetables and meats which a nice to have.

  3. Raging Leftie

    This shouldn’t be surprising he is completely disingenuous about everything else why should this be any different?

  4. Matthew Malthouse

    Almost (but not quite) all food banks operate on a referral basis which requires care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, CAB or police to identify people in crisis and issue them with a food bank voucher or refer them.

    You can’t just rock up and help yourself.

  5. Peggy Lloyd

    SadButMadLad, think you need to get your facts right. a. You can’t just go to a food bank like a shop, you need to be referred by social services etc and have a voucher. b. They don’t provide luxuries, only necessities. c. They only provide food for 3 days. Would you like to feed your children on beans and cheap bread every day?

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