Is the Government breaking human rights laws on child hunger?
Human Rights Watch report says Tory welfare cuts caused ‘hunger crisis’
A leading human rights group has accused the British government of breaching its international duty by pursuing “cruel and harmful policies” which have worsened the lives of the country’s poorest children.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) examined family poverty in Oxford, Hull, and Cambridgeshire, and concluded that tens of thousands of families do not have enough to eat.
Researchers carried out 126 interviews with families affected by food poverty, volunteers, and staff in food banks and pantries, as well as reviewing official data from national and local government.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It found that pupils at two primary schools in the deprived Blackbird Leys area of Oxford are among those receiving donated fruit, vegetables, bread and dried goods from the Oxford Food Bank.
The report states that significant factors behind the “surge in hunger” were “deep” cuts to welfare spending by successive Tory governments since 2010, with support to families and children disproportionately hit. It says that Universal Credit has “exacerbated the hunger crisis”.
HWR analysis of public spending data shows that between 2010 and 2018 public welfare to assist children and families fell by 44%, far outstripping cuts in many other areas of government expenditure.
The group is calling for “urgent and concerted action” from the government to address the rise in hunger, arguing that ministers have “stood aside” and relied on charities to “pick up the pieces” of its “harmful” policies.
The Independent says the report comes after the United Nations warned that “cuts to social support were inflicting unnecessary misery in one of the richest countries in the world”.
Last month, Philip Alston, the United Nations rapporteur on extreme poverty, said the political focus on Brexit means that poverty is being ignored. He said: “You are really screwing yourselves royally for the future by producing a substandard workforce and children that are malnourished.”
However, a Government spokesman argued that “employment is at a record high and children growing up in working households are five times less likely to be in relative poverty”.
“We spend £95bn a year on working-age benefits and we’re supporting over one million of the country’s most disadvantaged children through free school meals,” he added.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Bhutan hopes tourists will put a smile back on its face
Under The Radar The 'kingdom of happiness' is facing economic problems and unprecedented emigration
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
What’s causing the ‘chaos’ in the UK criminal justice system?
Today's Big Question Shortage of prison cells and real-terms pay cut for solicitors has increased talk of ‘crisis’
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Texas’s abortion law: the Republicans get their way, at last
Speed Read SB8 authorises private citizens to sue anyone who performs, ‘aids or abets’ an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy
By The Week Staff Published
-
Changing legal gender: what’s new and how does it work?
Speed Read Cost of a gender recognition certificate application is reduced from £140 to £5
By Kate Samuelson Last updated
-
America’s bloodiest state votes to ban the death penalty
Speed Read Virginia has executed more than 1,300 people in its 400-year history
By Joe Evans Last updated
-
FBI accused of ‘fake’ background check on Donald Trump Supreme Court nominee
Speed Read Democratic senator calls for ‘proper oversight’ over Brett Kavanaugh investigation into sexual assault claims
By Joe Evans Last updated
-
Family of Malcolm X claims letter proves FBI and NYPD involved in his murder
Speed Read Daughters of assassinated civil rights leader demand reopening of investigation
By Joe Evans Last updated
-
Meghan Markle granted nine-month delay in Mail on Sunday privacy case
Speed Read Duchess of Sussex had applied for summary judgement in battle over letters sent to her estranged father
By Chas Newkey-Burden Last updated
-
Meghan Markle to pay £67,000 after losing first round of legal battle against Mail
Speed Read Duchess of Sussex is suing the newspaper’s publisher for printing parts of private letter to her father
By Joe Evans Published