Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n
Food bank charity Trussell distributed around one million food parcels in 2015-16, a figure that has since increased threefold.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, wage growth has lagged since the 2008 financial crisis. When you adjust for inflation, the average British worker is \u00a311,000 worse off a year than they were before the recession.<\/p>\n
All this translates into political discontent, said Sam Alvis, associate director at IPPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAny government, of any political stripe, will only secure lasting electoral success if people genuinely feel their lives are becoming more affordable again,\u201d he told Big Issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means going beyond headline inflation figures. It means tackling the real pressures people experience every day: spiralling rents, high energy bills, expensive childcare, and the rising cost of essentials at the supermarket checkout.\u201d<\/p>\n The public \u2013 and therefore MPs \u2013 turn against politicians very quickly in this context.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cThe political instability we are seeing in the UK is closely linked to rising inequality, persistent poverty, and deepening insecurity in people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Jess McQuail, director of rights champions Just Fair<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Part of the problem has been Labour\u2019s failure to make a clear ideological case for change.<\/p>\n Early on in Starmer\u2019s term, the Labour government<\/a> declined to lift the two-child benefit cap<\/a> and attempted to reduce disability payments. Both decisions were later reversed \u2013 but the damage was done, said Jen Clark, economic, cultural and social rights lead at Amnesty International UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccessive Governments have demonised those on social security for cheap political points instead of protecting their human right to food<\/a> and a decent home,\u201d she said. \u201cThe result is that 75% of us think poverty is getting worse and until that changes we are going to continue to see politicians plummeting to new depths of unpopularity and political instability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Will the next prime minister finally tackle poverty?<\/p>\n If Starmer is replaced, the new prime minister will set a new direction for the party.<\/p>\n Outgoing health secretary Wes Streeting<\/a> is on the party\u2019s right, calling for a reduced welfare system and has been linked to introducing some elements of private finance into the NHS.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n He cound face Andy Burnham<\/a>, the Greater Manchester mayor and favoured candidate of many on the party\u2019s left-wing, but he does not yet have a seat in parliament. Angela Rayner<\/a> \u2013 who has just been cleared of the tax dispute with HMRC that saw her quit as deputy prime minister \u2013 is another candidate, as is Ed Miliband, though the former party leader has said he doesn\u2019t want the job.<\/p>\n If radical policies to address poverty are key to winning back the electorate, Wes Streeting is \u201cnot the answer\u201d, Bankole said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure he represents the kind of positive compassion and care or the sense of vision that we need at this moment,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n \u201cI do think Angela Rayner would be a good fit. I think she\u2019s someone who is very relatable, who speaks with conviction.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go up and down the country, and people are not only struggling when it comes to bills or the general living standards, but people also feel unheard and unspoken to. Someone like Angela, given her background and given how she\u2019s spoken in the past and her general political platform, I think she\u2019d be a really good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n This said, it\u2019s not easy for politicians to enact the radical change they initially promise. <\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Starmer has pursued welfare cuts<\/a> to appease a right-wing press who constantly accused him of ballooning the country\u2019s welfare bill. <\/p>\n And Rayner, in particular, has faced misogynist and classist reporting<\/a> in the press.<\/p>\n Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn believes that Starmer\u2019s struggles are down to to inequality.<\/p>\n \u201cThis country might be about to have its sixth prime minister in seven years,\u201d he posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy? Because they have all refused to take on a rigged economic system that enriches the few at the expense of us all. People want a society where children don\u2019t go hungry. That is really not too much to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n Big Issue\u2019s Poverty Zero<\/a> campaign has been calling for the government to set poverty reductions targets and hold them legally accountable to those commitments.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll stop this conveyor belt of prime ministers in and out of Downing Street until one of them can get a grip on the UK\u2019s staggeringly high rates of hardship,\u201d said Rhianon Steeds, campaigns and public affairs manager at Big Issue.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than one in five people in the UK live in poverty, and many of us cannot remember feeling worse off. If the next PM wants to make it to a second term in office, they must convince the public they have a viable plan to bring down the cost of living and make sure those on the lowest incomes aren\u2019t locked out from accessing essentials.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n You can also support online: Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Part of the reason for the merry-go-round, Michael Bankole, lecturer in politics at Kings College London, explains, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3669,7786,5172,1635,9208,94,14,1073,18013,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-36845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-analysis","9":"tag-andy-burnham","10":"tag-angela-rayner","11":"tag-cost-of-living-crisis","12":"tag-jeremy-corbyn","13":"tag-keir-starmer","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-poverty","16":"tag-social-justice","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116577109427307206","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776060517_614_35-birthday-subs_FINAL_v3_800x250.jpg\")
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