Food banks: To tackle hunger we must abolish benefit sanctions

Left wing political party Left Unity is calling for benefit sanctions to be abolished in order to reduce the need for food banks.

Today’s all-party parliamentary group shows that problems receiving benefits are the leading cause of food bank visits. Since October 2012, 833,628 people have been sanctioned.

Salman Shaheen of Left Unity said:

“Sanctions mean that tiny mistakes can see people’s benefits stopped. Often people are given unclear instructions. Sometimes the rules suddenly change or appointments are moved. One slip-up and they join the ranks of the hungry.

“Every crackdown on benefits pushes more people into the food bank queues. Abolishing sanctions is the simple answer: no one should ever be left with no income to live on.

“We also need to raise benefits from their current poverty level. And it is vital to tackle in-work poverty by ending zero-hours contracts and raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour.”

For interviews and more information contact press@leftunity.org

Notes for editors

1. Left Unity is the new party of the left in Britain. Founded in November 2013, it has around 2,000 members and 50 branches across the country.