‘Half of Britons seeking assistance’

A senior journalist blames Britain’s recession as the main reason behind the increase in the number of food banks in the UK.

On Monday, the UK’s leading food bank charity, the Trussell Trust, said almost half of Britons are seeking assistance, because of problems with the government’s welfare system, including changes or delays in benefits.

A day later, Press TV conducted an interview with Sean O’Grady, the deputy managing editor of The Independent. He said “it’s very difficult to find a solution to the issue.” However, he noted that the government should probably look again at some of its reforms to social security benefits and insure that people are paid more. He also said UK’s economy needs to be fixed, the competitiveness needs to be restored, and the British industry and commerce needs to be able to compete better in the world.

According to the data presented by the Trussell Trust charity, 29 percent of referrals to its food banks were due to delays in benefit payouts, with benefit changes accounting for over 15 percent.

The findings were based on a voucher checklist filled out by every person who received parcels from one of the charity’s 420 food banks across the country.

The charity’s food bank director Adam Curtis said the organization had witnessed a rise of people using food banks following the Coalition government’s changes to the welfare system.