The UK Government has been slammed for a “shameful” increase in the number of Angus families driven to use foodbanks.
The Courier last week revealed there was a 64% spike in the number of Angus residents officially referred to foodbanks last December up 107 from 167 the year before with a warning that the figure will increase again this month.
South Angus SNP MSP Graeme Dey said the figures are a “shameful indictment” of Government policies on areas such as welfare driving households into poverty.
“At the same time, it says so much about the charitable instincts and decency of local people that they are donating to the foodbanks to such an extent that this rising demand is being made,” he said.
“It is a strange situation indeed that leaves you with feelings of both revulsion and pride. But when all is said and done, in this day and age people should not be having to turn to foodbanks to survive.”
North Angus and Mearns SNP MSP Nigel Don said: “I find it appalling that there is a continuing need for foodbanks in a country as prosperous as Scotland.
“I would like say how grateful I am to the volunteers across my constituency who staff them, and to thank the generous folk who are donating over this Christmas period and who have done all year.”
A UK Government spokesman said the reasons for foodbank use are “complex and overlapping” and not directly attributable to welfare changes under this government.
Aberdeenshire saw a 260% increase in the number of residents referred to its foodbanks over the same period.