MP’s dogma and the reality of children living in poverty

FOLLOWING Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake’s crass comments on child poverty in his recent public exchange with Marcus Rashford, I question whether he is aware of the realities facing children within his constituency.

Within Ryedale alone, the index of deprivation used by North Yorkshire Children’s Trust identifies one in five children aged 0- 16 years living in poverty. Within areas such as Pickering West, Rillington and Sherburn this number is increasing to one in four and, in the Wolds the figure is one in three.

One suspects that if Mr Hollinrake had been aware of poverty levels in his constituency, he would have been far more careful before making such insulting comments about parents failing in their duties to provide for their children.

The combination of rocketing house prices, high rents due to the lack of affordable homes within the private or rented sectors, the lowest regional average wages and poor public transport all comes together to create a daily struggle for too many local residents. The wage reductions and job losses resulting from Covid- 19 have added enormously to those burdens.

By his dismissal of Marcus Rashford’s fight to support children in poverty, yet again I feel dismayed and let down by my MP who voted against ensuring that hungry, impoverished children in Ryedale would be sure of a meal every day through the school holidays.

Even in these extraordinary times that no family could have predicted, Kevin Hollinrake and his Conservative colleagues cannot let go of their dogma of the ‘‘ feckless poor’’. Not every family in Ryedale lives in Mr Hollinrake’s privileged position.

From: David Goff, Carlton in Coverdale.

DURING correspondence with my MP Rishi Sunak, he has made it clear to me that he supports the maintenance of the charitable status of many independent, fee paying schools and the huge tax- breaks they enjoy.

Last week, together with 318 of his well- paid colleagues, he voted against extending free school meals to help the most vulnerable families during the school holidays. So, it seems that our Chancellor believes that while the children of the most privileged families should benefit from charities, those at the other end of the scale should be forced to rely on them.