Why staying neutral on poverty is wrong

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/17/why-staying-neutral-on-poverty-is-wrong

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Letter: Former food bank volunteer Janice Gupta Gwilliam responds to Guardian readers urging her to reconsider her decision to quit

I am grateful to Trish Cockayne and Jeff Skinner (Letters, 16 December) for their kind words following my letter (14 December). I believe them when they refer to the actions that the Trussell Trust is taking vis-a-vis universal credit and the five-week delay. I would make two points. First, it is more than just the five-week delay; it is sanctions, the gig economy and a minimum wage that is too low.

The Trussell Trust may be discretely campaigning on these issues, but it needs to be shouted loudly from the rooftops, both locally and nationally. Second, I have been informed in no uncertain terms by the (paid) manager of my local (Trussell Trust) food bank, that the “food bank must remain neutral”. If so, how does that square with holding our MPs to account and campaigning on anything at all? I will start volunteering again when I see evidence that the campaigning is not just against the government, which is often a seen as some distant and non-political entity, but against this cruel Tory government.Janice Gupta GwilliamNorton, North Yorkshire

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