Food bank rise is the result of brutal Tory cuts to universal credit and senseless two-child limit

April to September 2019 was the busiest half-year period for food banks in the Trussell Trust network since the charity opened.

"The UK remains one of the world's richest countries, yet for six months of this year 823,145 emergency food parcels were given to people in crisis. Here in Newcastle at their two locations the need seems to be ever increasing too," said Ali Avaei, the Liberal Democrats candidate for Newcastle Central.

"With financial vulnerability the leading cause of food insecurity, the Conservative's brutal cuts to Universal Credit since 2015 and their senseless two-child limit, the lives of millions have worsened under the Conservatives.

"Liberal Democrats will bring in a new legal right to food, tackle poverty and build a brighter future by creating the circumstances in which food banks are no longer required."

The Trussell Trust operates foodbanks on West Road and Heaton Road in Newcastle