The rise in child and pensioner poverty is a tragedy that the Government must fix

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Since 2013 an extra 300,000 pensioners and 400,000 children are now living in poverty (Getty)

The fact that according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation an additional 700,000 UK children and pensioners have fallen into relative poverty over the past five years is totally unacceptable and must act as a wake-up call to the Tory Government.

Indeed, the charity said it is the first time in decades that poverty in these groups has seen sustained rises.

According to the report, since 2013 an extra 300,000 pensioners and 400,000 children are now living in poverty and the prospects for solving the problem “currently look worrying”.

Despite the Government protecting the value of the basic state pension since 2010, pension credit, a benefit paid to the poorest pensioners, has not kept up pace with rising costs. Child poverty has also been driven by stagnant wages for low-income families and a freeze on benefits and changes to tax credits, which many families, both in and out of work, rely on.

New threats to the poorest households include rising housing costs, higher food and energy bills, debts and not being able to contribute to a pension. It is a real struggle for thousands and thousands of people every day to make ends meets, and that number is rising.

Ending the benefits freeze is the single biggest change the Government could make to help those now living in poverty and it must do this, and do it now, before we push hundreds of thousands more people into the misery of poverty.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

Building walls doesn’t work

The people holding discussions relating to Brexit and the concerns about how to construct a border between Northern and the Republic of Ireland should look to America where President Trump is building his “great wall” – although nothing has actually happened and it is condemned by nearly everyone.

A far better approach is that of Pope Francis who commented that there was a need to build bridges rather than walls. The world would be a lot better with a lot less borders.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

The irony

Nigel Farage’s comments that he will not give up his EU pension as he does not want his family to suffer financially shows him for what he really is – someone who shows no regard for the suffering of the country’s economy and its effect on the population.

N Smith
West Sussex

The benefits of Corbynism

It is interesting that your editorial puts Corbynism, Brexit and the riots of 2011 in the same bag, as it were. Some of us think that had there been more Corbynism there would have been no riots and no Brexit.

Joanna Pallister
Address supplied

The one-way ticket to oblivion

James Moore’s article in Sunday’s Independent (Campaigns to help hungry children are great, but we shouldn’t need them) settled on a single issue which results from the Tories failure to understand the simple concept that if the cure for a problem fails to work the first time, you should stop and try something else.

We are now almost into the 10th year of the Tories’ austerity plan. It was started in the hope of stabilising our economy following the financial crash, and because we were told we had to stop spending beyond our means.

But here we are after all these lost years, with a worse economy than ever, generally poorer families and ever diminishing tax receipts, yet our clever Chancellor won’t go against his predecessors’ manic obsession for austerity. This has resulted in a rise of food bank usage, ever increasing homelessness, ever increasing NHS waiting times and a growing fear of who will look after us when we grow old.

And all the time whilst May is reassuring us that she wants to build “a country that works for everyone”, the rich and privileged get richer with no threat to their privileges. The two biggest threats to our economy and our lifestyle are both creations of our wonderful Tory Government. Austerity can be switched off at any time, but Brexit is most likely a one-way journey to oblivion.

So there you are James. If proof were needed that the people of Britain don’t understand what is driving change for the worse, and don’t know what to protest about, you have it. It is just us “fools on the hill” that see our sun going down, and get ever more frustrated at our inability to stop the madness.

David Curran
Feltham

Trump the child

President Trump behaves like a toddler when challenged or upset. Why on earth do we take him seriously? Is it because we respect the office of President? He doesn’t. He just bawls if he doesn’t get his way.

Malcolm Brown
Kingston upon Thames

Annoyin’

When did people stop pronouncing the final G in a word?

I notice it all the time, whether it may be London Mayor Sadiq Khan, or Arsenal ladies’ footballer Alex Scott. They say goin’, takin’, makin’, enjoyin’ etc.

And it is spreading. We must halt the slide now, or this lazy approach will become de rigueur and we will end in a place akin to the current situation, where no BBC presenter seems capable of pronouncing the word “sixth”. They all say “sickth”.

Dai Woosnam
Grimsby