Foodbanks and a Trump-fractured G7

I found the St Ives Foodbank in All Saints. I was inbetween the A14 Networking morning and the Huntingdonshire Business Network Lunch and learn, with 2 hours to kill. In the rising heat, the cool interior of All Saints Church and the Victorian stained glass provided an hour of distraction.

As I wandered around the church, the Foodbank and its occasional visitor were always subliminally in the corner of my eye. Eventually curiosity won and I began chatting to the volunteers manning the Foodbank.

After an initial uproar at the increase in foodbanks in the UK, when changes in the economy and the conservative governments more radical social policy kicked in, they disappeared from mainstream consciousness. But the foodbanks continue to exist and perform a vital role in helping people with what is surely a fundamental human right - not to go hungry.

Contrary to the 'sponger' tag, so easily slapped on those who fall through the increasingly wide-meshed social security net, there is great reluctance and a feeling of personal shame, of loss of self-worth before the gnawing pains of hunger drive you to even acknowledge that you can get this help, freely given. You cannot simply walk in, you need to get a referral from frontline professionals, such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and the Citizens Advice. There are over 400 foodbanks across the UK, set up by the Trussell Trust (https://www.trusselltrust.org/). Last year, they provided 1,109,309 three day emergency food supplies to people in crisis.

What I saw in the church was just the final stage in action, with pre-prepared boxes ready for single individuals, couples, small and large families. Another volunteer kindly took me over to see where the food donated by local stores was received and sorted, literally with (ex)military precision this town! In St Ives, the local charities involved in the foodbank also take a broader view. For example, coordinating with housing charities and providing free advice on debt management.

I could only agree with the volunteer, with his anger at us having a society that makes the foodbanks a necessity.

The increased terrorism alert in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing is still a main element of today's UK news. It percolates through to the G7 summit. It is resulting in more armed police and army personnel in public spaces and on overground trains. It is punctuated by the deaths of 28 people in Egypt and the many wounded in another less publiscised terrorist atrocity today.

The G7 summit itself appears to be 6 against 1, with President Trump and the American delegation not agreeing to or even blocking anticipated decisions on climate change, trade and migration with the other 6. Trump was positive towards Prime Minister May about negotiations with an Anglo-US Trade deal. But when Theresa May tried to persuade French President Macron that Brexit negotiations should have parallel streams on arranging the divorce and future trade deals, she met the common EU position that these would be negotiated separately.

And the elephant in the room is Russia, in terms of continuing sanctions, Ukraine and Syria.