It really was very depressing to see just how little our local MPs value the youngest members of our society who are the future of our country.

To see an almost clean Tory sweep against feeding our poorest kids during a once in a lifetime crisis was more than offensive.

The internet has been churning out the usual bile about feckless, lazy scrounging parents with all the cliches and prejudice that the keyboard warriors can muster.

These are not normal times, when poverty is bad enough.

There will be families who have never imagined that they would need to rely on benefits, charity or the kindness of strangers.

When they find themselves vulnerable and at the mercy of our benefits system and precarious jobs market the results will undoubtedly be devastating for many. All of this heat and light boils down to a single issue.

Is it right in 2020, in our wealthy but hugely unequal society that any child, from any family, is left to go hungry?

RACHELLE STONE

Roots Hall Drive, Southend

READ MORE

Write to us at Echo Newspapers, Echo House, Howard Chase, Basildon, SS14 3BE or email basildon.echo.letters@newsquest.co.uk. Please keep it brief, with your full name and address, which will only be withheld in exceptional circumstances.