ALISON Rowat reports that almost a million people visited food banks last year ("No sign of a party for the poor as food banks loom", The Herald, April 18).
David Gaukes MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, makes one wonder what planet he has been living on when he opines that the food banks have not really increased in numbers, but rather that the media has publicised them more. His detachment from reality suggests that he should get out more.
Others look on at the commitment of the organisers and volunteers of such banks and are impressed. A large number of people are resorting to them out of desperation. Many find it difficult to understand that, at a time when the need for food banks is growing, many children in the UK continue to live in poverty, and those on state benefits, disabled or otherwise, are being hard-pressed, bankers' bonuses still reach levels beyond the wildest dreams of most of us and some men for playing at football are being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds each week.
The UK, while it may consider itself worthy of praise for its tolerance, sense of fair play, equality, respect for others, and commitment to democracy, still has a long and hard road to travel before arriving at the destination of a true commonwealth.
Ian W Thomson,
38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article