A million children hungry. That's the shocking news this week.  Not in some developing world country, or a Dickens novel,  but right here, today in the UK.  Perhaps even in our own community?

When I read last week that the UKIP advocates curbing and reversing immigration, I was concerned. I consider Alan Grant a friend – a man who invests a lot of his time in the community, who never  hesitates to offer his help.

Given the current social and economic circumstances, and I have no party political axe to grind,  perhaps we should all be somewhat concerned about a prominent political group which  feeds on disaffection, to suggest that to 'decrease the surplus population' is the way to go.

The truth is, we have failed to create jobs and stimulate local econ­omies. Another recent statistic reveals that there are 6.5 million people in the UK looking for work, or more work in order to meet the cost of household bills.  We now have food banks springing up all over the place.

The root of the problem is not the number of people, but the gatekeepers who obstruct innovation in sustainable local economies. Those young people, for example,  who were evicted from the Wilderness Centre, fighting to do so. The  'bigger picture' being one of attracting supermarkets and developers to raise tax revenue, to impose parking charges which will harm already struggling small businesses.

These supermarkets could serve as museums, raising revenue from tours to give to those who might wonder what it was like to eat.  

This is the inspired planning of the 'Infamous Five' – the cabinet on the Forest of Dean District Council.

 

Six years ago, I introduced a business to the Forest with the specific aim of tackling poverty. The Legal and Democratic Services department of the council has a copy of our business plan. We're an economic development organisation which has been successful in helping people overseas create micro enterprises.  As we've discovered, it's too often a case of 'not invented here', a public sector culture of knowing best, keeping others away from the table.

Within the local Federation of Small Business, I've met others who hold qualifications in economic development. Yet, at the head of our local council, is a website developer who seems increasingly out of his depth.

If we're going to get rid of anyone, surely these should be the first to go, by means of the ballot box.   But first, let us take them by the scruff of the neck and rub their noses in the mess they've left.

Let us take them on an 'Ignorance and Want' tour, to the homes of those with little to eat.

– Jeff Mowatt, Folly Road, Parkend.