Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

The best place on the Internet I've found, for keeping up to date on the situation in the Ukraine:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26428296

People fed by food banks under labour rose from 2,814 in 2005/6 to 40,898 in 2009/10.

ho ho ho ha ha ha he he he LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Haystack - 04 Mar 2014 10:02 - 37617 of 37618

Food banks have not expanded as a reaction to demand but due to deliberate policies of the food banks. The move to a social franchise model in 2004 encouraged food banks to spread and it’s difficult to separate this natural expansion from the effects of the recession. There may have been be an underlying hidden need for some help in that area, but the fast expansion is not necessarily an indication of an increase in the need.....ends

Hays you dick head your Coalition Govt called for an independant enquiry into foodbank expansion and held it back for weeks because of its findings.

Ill post it up. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL ohhh I cant stop laughing.

for goodness sake you two .... you're both as bad as each other

why on earth are you both (+ fossy of course) totally incapable of viewing the concept of foodbanks and their raison d'etre and their benefit from other than an entrenched political standpoint?

Little lord Fauntleroy get you figures up to date.

http://www.trusselltrust.org/stats

download-press-release-offBiggest ever increase in UK foodbank use:
170% rise in numbers turning to foodbanks in last 12 months
Trussell Trust foodbanks have seen the biggest rise in numbers given emergency food since the charity began in 2000. Almost 350,000 people have received at least three days emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks during the last 12 months, nearly 100,000 more than anticipated and close to triple the number helped in 2011-12.
Rising cost of living, static incomes, changes to benefits, underemployment and unemployment have meant increasing numbers of people in the UK have hit a crisis that forces them to go hungry. This dramatic rise in foodbank usage predates April’s welfare reforms, which could see numbers increase further in 2013-14.

346,992 people received a minimum of three days emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks in 2012-13, compared to 128,697 in 2011-12 and up from 26,000 in 2008-09. Of those helped in 2012-13, 126,889 (36.6 percent) were children.

The Trussell Trust has seen a 76 percent increase in the number of foodbanks launched since April 2012 but has seen a 170 percent increase in numbers of people given emergency food. Well-established foodbanks that have been running for several years are showing significant rises in numbers helped during the last 12 months. Christian charity The Trussell Trust is launching three new foodbanks every week to help meet demand and has launched 345 UK foodbanks in partnership with churches and communities to date.

Here we are, and note during this period Camoron in the commons and Lord Fraud in the Upper House were aware of the report but stayed in denial. Both liars.

Government accused of suppressing the damning report that suggests its flagship welfare reforms are forcing ever more people to resort to food banks

The author of a Government-commissioned report into food banks has told the Independent that welfare reforms since she conducted the research are forcing many more people to resort to emergency food handouts.

The Government is accused of suppressing a piece of research into food poverty in Britain for more than seven months. It was finally published by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs today morning amid suggestions that it had been “slipped out” while the floods were still in the news.

It concluded that there was “growing demand” for emergency food because of increased need. This directly contradicts the position of Work and Pensions minister Lord Freud, who claimed last summer that the expansion of charities such as The Trussell Trust had driven the demand.

The research was conducted in early 2013, before a raft of welfare reforms were introduced in April. Professor Elizabeth Dowler, a sociologist from Warwick University who led the research, said: “For many people the situation is definitely harder than when we wrote this report. What is different now is many are needing help who didn’t need it in the past and people are saying the safety net has gone.

“A lot of things have changed in the last year. We’ve had the devolution of the emergency fund system and we’ve had the so-called bedroom tax, which has put a lot of families into rent arrears. The evidence is that there are more and more sanctions being applied [to benefit claimants] and it’s hard to see how that could not have a negative effect on households struggling with food security.”

Despite being peer reviewed and apparently signed off by a steering committee in June, the report was not put into the public domain until yesterday. Its publication was delayed for more than seven months after officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and DEFRA put it under intense scrutiny.

A source close to the project said: “My sense is that the political advisers got hold of it. We had to be very careful about anything we wrote to do with benefits and social security.”

The heavy Government scrutiny was alluded to in the report itself, which said it was “steered closely” by a group with included DEFRA, DWP and the Department of Health.

The report’s authors were given less than 24 hours' notice that the research was going to be published yesterday after all this time. Academics told it was finally going online speculated amongst themselves that it was probably being “slipped out” while attention on DEFRA was focused on floods. However, a spokeswoman for DEFRA said this was “categorically not the case”.

Professor Dowling said of the delays: “Instead of taking so long to publish this report it seems to me the Government should have got it into the public domain and addressed the problem.”

In her official statement published yesterday, she said: “We are delighted our report has been published. We urge the Government to learn from it and from those living in harsh circumstances, and to find creative, fair ways to enable all in this rich country to have enough money to be able to eat healthily. This work is urgent.”

The final report was heavily caveated and avoided making its own pronouncement on the causes of the rise in food aid use, instead summarising the views of national charities and NGOs, and local-level research. Citing these groups, it said crises such as the loss of a job or problems with social security benefits would prompt people to seek emergency help with food.

Maria Eagle MP, Shadow Environment Secretary, said: “It is now clear why David Cameron has fought so hard over many months to keep this report hidden, because it rubbishes the claim that the increase in food banks is driving demand. Instead of hiding behind a myth that is insulting to all those parents who have skipped meals to ensure their children do not go hungry, it is time Ministers took this issue seriously."

Steve Turner, the assistant general secretary of Unite, said of the research: “This is a Whitehall whitewash. Ministers and advisers have spent a year poring over it to remove the unpalatable truth that the government has created a national crisis, punishing people when they need help, presiding over a dramatic rise in food bank use while George Osborne squeezes living standards in a way unseen since the Victorian era.”

The news follows a joint letter from 27 Anglican bishops published today, blaming David Cameron for creating a “national crisis” which has seen half a million people visit food banks since April last year.

A Government spokesperson said: “Charities such as food organisations have always provided a valued service to those in need in their communities, in addition to the safety net provided by governments, and we should welcome the help they provide.

“That is why this Government has given Jobcentre Plus advisers the ability to say to people who need help that they can go to a food bank. The literature review published today was commissioned as part of Defra’s general work on food in the UK to see what information was available on the issue.”

My son has a friend who's parents are very religious. They do a lot of work at their church and other nearby churches. The mother works in a soup kitchen/food bank. The food bank is a minor part, but the soup kitchen is booming. The bulk of the visitors are foreign nationals. They come here from other parts of London. If they cannot make a living here why aren't they returning to where they came from?

It concluded that there was “growing demand” for emergency food because of increased need. This directly contradicts the position of Work and Pensions minister Lord Freud, who claimed last summer that the expansion of charities such as The Trussell Trust had driven the demand.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Its his son who now as all these freinds.............


you couldnt make it up.

The Labour government banned Job centres from referring people to food banks as it was bad publicity for them. The present government has reversed this policy, which has made increases in the use of food banks.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my sides are aching Ive laughed that much at Hays this morning.

I can only think it must have been Fred yesterday who really got to him and led to him filtering him.

1-0 to Fred........Hays old lad.

he he he he he Hays now admits Food banks are part of the Tory welfare state and policy LOL LOL LOl LOL

Haystack - 04 Mar 2014 10:33 - 37629 of 37630

The Labour government banned Job centres from referring people to food banks as it was bad publicity for them. The present government has reversed this policy, which has made increases in the use of of food banks.

Hays why did Camoron turn down EEC funding for Food banks then now that you admit its Tory welfare policy?????????????????????????????????????????????

There is a group at the bottom of the social/success ladder who have to manage on very little money. That has always been the case. Food banks do provide a need for the most serious cases. However, the increase of food banks is a driving force for their use and few social worker, doctors etc are going to deny anyone the necessary documentation required to use food banks. The use of food banks has become a self fulfilling prophecy. You open more food banks and more will come to use them and demand access to them as a right. It become an adjunct to being on benefits. Instead of learning to manage on the benefits, it is easier to demand to be fed by someone else.

Ukip must be treated like any major party, Ofcom rules

Nigel Farage's party must be given the same coverage as the Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats in the run up to the European elections, the regulator says






By Hayley Dixon

8:13AM GMT 04 Mar 2014







Ukip have been given a boost in the run up to the European elections after Ofcom ruled that broadcasters have to treat them in the same way as any other major party.


The decision means Ukip will be given the same status as the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats for election broadcasts and news coverage of the May 22 contest.


The party welcomed the regulator’s landmark ruling, claiming it was a refection of the fact that Ukip is a “major player in British politics”.


However, it only applies to England and Wales as Ukip's limited support in Scotland means it will not have to be treated as a major party by broadcasters north of the border or in news coverage focusing solely on Scottish constituencies.


Although the ruling fell short of Ukip’s demands to be treated as a major party on a permanent basis, it is likely to fuel speculation about whether Nigel Farage will be invited to join the televised leaders’ debates in the run up to the next General Election.



More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10674846/Ukip-must-be-treated-like-any-major-party-Ofcom-rules.html

Hays so your just dismissing your own partys finding s are you as outlined above post 37625??????????????

Hays takes the 'PLANK OF THE YEAR AWARD'.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh dear make no wonder this country is so screwed up under the present government.

And heres more evidence just out.........

Benefits blunders forcing thousands to use food banks says TORY think tank
posted in Uncategorized by argotina1

Ministers have denied links between welfare reforms and the 170% increase in emergency handouts in 2013

Up to 68,000 people are wrongly having benefits stopped every year and the blunders are fuelling rising demand at food banks, says a think tank set up by TORIES.

Ministers have denied links between welfare reforms and the170% increase in emergency handouts in 2013.

But a study by Policy Exchange, created by Tory ministers Michael Gove and Francis Maude, today says so-called benefit “sanctions” are leaving claimants too poor to buy food.

Jobseekers can lose up to four weeks’ money for missing an interview or other requirements. Around 5,600 people sanctioned each month have the decision overturned on appeal.

They get the money back after long delays, leaving them dependent on food banks, the think-tank found.

Author Guy Miscampbell said: “Four weeks without any money is driving people to desperate measures including a reliance on food banks.”

Shadow Work Secretary Rachel Reeves said: “David Cameron’s favourite think-tank has shown how government incompetence is leading to thousands of people being forced to rely on food banks.

“Ministers need urgently to fix the broken sanctions system to cut the number of decisions which are later overturned on appeal.”

The damning think-tank findings come after Cardinal Vincent Nichols reopened his row with David Cameron about benefits yesterday.

Britain’s most senior Catholic, who was elevated to the College of ­Cardinals by Pope Francis last month, said it was a “fact” coalition welfare policies are punishing the poor.

Some MPs had suggested Nichols was “naive” when he recently warned people were being left destitute.

But yesterday, the Cardinal insisted: “Evidence is there that people are living in destitution. That’s a fact: I’m not naive to state facts, it’s accurate.”

Meanwhile, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Bob Jones blamed benefits cuts for an 11% increase in shoplifting offences to 30,000 in the West Midlands last year.

Mr Jones said: “We’re seeing ­shoplifting of food in particular.”

A BBC Panorama probe tonight also shows the hunger crisis is so great that more than a third of local authorities are now having to subsidise food banks.

The show found that 140 councils are now funding food banks to the tune of almost £3million.

The evidence is overwhelming..........

Up to 68,000 people are wrongly having benefits stopped every year and the blunders are fuelling rising demand at food banks, says a think tank set up by TORIES.

says a think tank set up by TORIES