As Labour prepares for its first Party Conference in Liverpool since winning the election, a coalition of trade unionists, academics, football fans, right to food campaigners and the Bishop of Liverpool have written an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling for an end to Foodbank Britain and warning him not to normalise foodbanks.

Organised by the Food and Work Network (FAWN), the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and the Right to Food Campaign, the letter calls on the Government to end reliance on food charity and food banks by driving up wages, improving working terms and conditions and re-establishing a compassionate system of genuine social security.

Sarah Woolley, BFAWU General Secretary, said: “Labour has the chance to end hunger in this country. It must take the opportunity to tackle food insecurity and end the need for foodbanks. It is a disgrace that so many of our people, including many in work, have to rely on foodbanks to feed themselves and their families. This letter and the signatories on it show clearly that we expect action and that normalising Foodbank Britain will not be tolerated.”

Alex Colas, FAWN and Professor of International Relations at Birkbeck University, said:

“This letter from such an array of signatories is a loud and clear message to the Government to end Foodbank Britain. It’s scandalous that in the world’s sixth largest economy there’s widespread food poverty linked to work insecurity and low pay. There is no room for error for Labour when it comes to tackling this stain on our country. People expect Labour to end  hunger and food insecurity. They must now deliver.”

The letter points out: “The Food Foundation’s Food Insecurity Tracker estimated that at the start of this year 15% of UK households were living in food insecurity, equivalent to approximately eight million adults and three million children. For the sixth richest country in the world by GDP this is scandalous.”

Alongside the many academics and food campaigners who have signed are several union General Secretaries – Mick Whelan of ASLEF, Dave Ward of the CWU, Paul Fleming of Equity, Matt Wrack of the FBU, Fran Heathcote of the PCS and Mick Lynch of the RMT, to name just some.

See the full letter and list of signatories here.