HUNGER is neither royalist nor republican. Hunger doesn’t think, it destroys. Hunger doesn’t wait for an invite, it arrives when it wishes and stays as long as it wants.
Yet in Britain, hunger apparently is royalist. For food banks - certainly not all but enough to matter, especially to those who need to eat - are closing on Monday for the Queen’s funeral.
After criticism from many members of the public - one person noted the Queen “didn’t ever go hungry” - one food bank reversed its decision. Evidently, volunteers who run food banks deserve a break as much as anyone.
Indeed, they deserve not just a break, but our undying admiration given they’ve filled in for the failures of a UK government which couldn’t give a damn about the poor. But is there nobody available on Monday to run a skeleton service for the most desperate in society? Do the food banks in question need to shut their doors entirely?
There’s a madness that’s gripped Britain this last week. Respect for the dead is one thing, suspending normal life for everyone is quite another - particularly when suspending normal life might put some of our most vulnerable citizens in even greater hardship.
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