Birmingham City University political economist Professor Alex de Ruyter has warned a significant proportion of the UK’s population could now face hardship and destitution as the country is hit by economic uncertainty.  

Meanwhile a Methodist Minister with responsibility for a food ‘pantry’ at one of her two churches has also suggested the ‘imperative for change has never been stronger’.

The comments were made in a co-authored post for Birmingham City University’s Centre for Brexit Studies, available to read in full here, following a visit by Professor de Ruyter to the church-run service in South Birmingham.

Professor de Ruyter said: “Whilst the official unemployment rate is currently hovering around 4.2%, the number of working poor in the UK has increased dramatically in the last decade. Approximately 13% of workers are now defined as being in poverty; up from 9.75 in 1997/98, and those in precarious forms of work typified by the “gig economy” now account for over 20% of the workforce.

“Particularly striking is that one in ten adults report being employed via a gig economy online platform (the use of which experienced a doubling between 2016 and 2019). Furthermore, since the onset of Covid-19 there has been an increase of 1.3 million workers who are in receipt of Universal Credit.

“Particularly noticeable over the past decade has been the increased reliance on private charity as the state has cut back on supporting the most vulnerable in society. One key example of this has been in the growth of food banks, which provide vital support to those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves at crisis point, unable to manage financially.

“Research for the Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network, suggests that people using a food bank on average only have £248 per month to spend on food, energy bills, transport etc. after housing costs. Moreover, 95% of those using a Trussell Trust food bank were destitute i.e. they were unable to afford to eat or “stay warm and dry.”

Karen Webber is a Methodist Minister for South Yardley Methodist Church in Birmingham which runs the Oasis Hobmoor Pantry, where for a nominal price, shoppers can access the Food Pantry, which is set up like a shop, to purchase both fresh and ambient goods.

She said: “As the country enters a period of acute uncertainty and a harsher economic climate, it seems the imperative for change has never been stronger – and food banks should never have to be part of a ‘just society’.

“After all, it’s not about charity, it’s about justice. It is about ensuring that everyone can have a secure and meaningful life, and be “empowered” to take part in society so as to enable positive economic freedom via free healthcare, free education, free child care, and so on – all paid for by a progressive tax system that fairly taxes wealth as well as income.”