Welfare News Service (UK) - Newswire

A Conservative MP has asked the Charity Commission to assess whether a charity campaign broke its rules by criticising the government’s austerity programme and being ‘overtly political’.

The coalition is moving toward a welfare system that is surreal in its cruelty, writes Annie Powell.

The largest food bank provider in Britain has seen donations soar to more than £57,000 after a national newspaper ran an investigation on the charity.

The Archbishop of Canterbury warned on Easter Sunday that despite the economic recovery many families had been left “weeping” by their debts and were too ashamed to ask for help from food banks.

The Tories are trying to discredit food banks because the alternative would be to accept that their policies are creating poverty.

David Cameron praises Christian charity after Iain Duncan Smith's department accuses it of 'manipulative publicity-seeking'

The government is citing out of date figures in an attempt to wriggle out of its food bank shame, writes James Bloodworth.

The Department for Work and Pensions has responded to claims from the Trussel Trust - which runs the largest number of foodbanks - that the rapid increase in the number of people using foodbanks across Wales is partly attributable to benefit delays or changes.

Food bank manager Sue Sibany-King says they have measures in place to ensure that the system is not abused

A food bank charity says it has handed out 913,000 food parcels in the last year, up from 347,000 the year before.

It was a muddle with a form that first made Craig, 31, lose his benefits. He had been looking for work in Coventry for nearly a year, diligently going to the jobcentre and trawling through adverts. Then he made a mistake that would leave him hungry for a month.

Isle of Wight Foodbank used by more than 6,000 according to the Trussell Trust

Clients at the Oxfordshire West Food Bank have doubled this year

Donations to the food bank charity, the Trussell Trust, surged to more than £54,000 after a Mail on Sunday article criticising its work outraged its supporters.

Archbishop of Canterbury leads Easter assault on hunger, praising food banks as bishop speaks of “sinful” effect of Coalition cuts

People have taken to Twitter to implore people to donate to food banks, in response to a Mail On Sunday article that claimed food banks don't ask their users to prove they need free food and "scroungers" take advantage of them. Earlier this week, it was revealed that more one million British people have been using food banks for free food parcels, in what charity The Trussell Trust called a "shocking" increase in the last 12 months as rising living costs and low pay took their toll.

Forty five bishops and 600 church leaders signed a letter condemning the soaring food bank dependency

Nearly 1 million emergency food parcels were handed out last year, in a 163 per cent rise in the use of food banks. 

Religious leaders and faith groups ask David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg to tackle the causes of food poverty

The shocking scale of food poverty in Britain is exposed today by new figures showing record numbers of people are reliant on handouts because of punitive benefits sanctions.