Number of emergency food parcels handed out to children in Oldham soars

Jim McMahon's analysis of Trussell Trust data, the largest food bank charity in the UK, shows that between April 2017 and March 2023 the yearly number of child food parcels given out jumped from 2,554 to 9,273

The number of emergency food parcels distributed to children in Oldham has rocketed by 263% over the last six years, Oldham West and Royton MP, Jim McMahon, has found.

The MP’s analysis of Trussell Trust data, the largest food bank charity in the UK, shows that between April 2017 and March 2023 the yearly number of child food parcels given out jumped from 2,554 to 9,273.

These latest revelations come less than a fortnight after the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report which highlighted that at a national level, the number of children living in extreme poverty has nearly tripled in the past five years.

Mr McMahon insists this is a damning indictment of the impact of the cost-of living-crisis and Tory economic failures on hard-hit families.

He added that last year, compounding 13 years of Tory economic stagnation, chaos in the Tory Party allowed Liz Truss to crash the economy, forcing families to cope with even higher taxes, higher mortgages and higher food and energy bills.

Mr McMahon, Labour and Co-operative MP for Oldham West and Royton, said: “This devastating increase in child emergency food parcels shows the price families in Oldham are paying for 13 years of Tory economic failure.

“The reason why food banks are having to step in is because the Tories have let inflation soar, increased taxes on working people and crashed the economy forcing both mortgages, rent and other household bills to rocket even further.

“Only Labour can be trusted on the economy, and the next Labour government’s plan for growth will make working people better off by getting Britain building again, cutting energy bills, and creating good jobs across the country.”

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