June 30, 2024 • 11 mins
Sienna talks to anti-poverty campaigner Hannah Fremont-Brown on this final episode of our election mini-series. They discuss poverty in the UK and how engagement with candidates and our future MPs can encourage putting the ending of poverty higher up the political agenda of all parties.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to 10 Minutes On, a podcast from the Joint Public Issues Team.
My name's Sienna, I'm a Joint Public Issues Team intern. Joining me today is
Hannah, who is a campaigner for Let's End Poverty.
Let's End Poverty is a diverse and growing movement of people in the UK who
are united behind the vision for the UK where poverty can't keep anyone down.
(00:21):
Thank you so much for being here today.
As we all know, a general election is coming up and the campaign is in full swing.
Hannah, I'd love to hear a little bit about why you think we need to get poverty
on the political agenda.
Thank you, Sienna. Yeah, I think we've heard a lot during this run up to the
election about the cost of living crisis and perhaps the toll the last few years have taken.
(00:42):
But what we haven't heard much about is the long term trend of poverty,
both rising and deepening in the UK.
We know that at this stage, about one in five people in the UK are struggling
against poverty every day. but what's perhaps even more alarming is that levels
of destitution have almost doubled since 2017.
So that's people in the most deep form of poverty.
(01:03):
Children are the most likely group to be experiencing poverty in the UK today
with around 1 million children experiencing destitution.
These are levels that have completely skyrocketed. More and more people are
having to turn towards emergency measures of support just to get by every day.
They're no longer just there for a crisis, they're there to support people
(01:23):
through the everyday costs and essentials of
life and I don't believe that's good enough I don't
believe it's what our communities want for our neighbours and
for the people who we live alongside who are experiencing hardship and
what we're seeing is not enough attention from political leaders on acknowledging
the scale of the problem never mind the solutions and that
we have we believe as a movement that poverty is avoidable it's solvable it
(01:47):
doesn't need to exist in an increasingly wealthy country like the UK what's
missing is a political willingness to kind of pick up the tools to tackle poverty
that exist and to use them with that focus on ending poverty completely in the UK.
I think every time I particularly hear that destitution has doubled,
it just really hits home the fact that actually the UK is not in a good way
(02:10):
at the moment and that it's the people who are most marginalized who are struggling the most.
So Hannah, as Let's End Poverty, what are you hoping to achieve?
What would it look like for politicians to take poverty seriously? seriously.
Yeah, so like I've said, I think there's a whole host of options for political
(02:33):
leaders to pick up and use to start tackling poverty in the UK.
There are some great organisations who've been working really hard to draw on
their experience of providing frontline support to come up with policies that
will really make a difference.
The Trussell Trust have a roadmap where they set out what ending poverty in
the UK, ending the need for food banks in their language would look like.
(02:53):
Those solutions exist. What we need now is for whoever forms the next government
to take seriously their role in being part of the solution and I think a really
key first step to that would be committing to developing a long-term strategy
to tackle poverty in the UK that includes people with lived experience of poverty
in that process of decision making.
(03:13):
So rather than making decisions at a distance from people's lives who are at
the sharpest end of poverty, recognising that their experience of poverty and
hardship means they hold expertise and insight into the impact of policies on their daily lives.
We know that nobody's life is straightforward, but that is even more the case
when you are living day to day, struggling to make ends meet.
(03:35):
We need people who are at the decision-making end of policymaking to really
get to know, to listen to people who are at the sharp end of poverty and living
it every day, to create solutions that last.
And don't just see this as a crisis that's popped up over the short term to
fix, but recognise the long-term trends and therefore the long-term solutions
to poverty that we need that's going to set us on the right path.
(03:59):
I completely agree that actually there's so much that we can gain from having
people who have lived experience at the heart of policymakers life and life
experience is such a teacher and really should inform the way that we think
about the way that we address issues.
I really hope that politicians listen both in the run-up to the election in
the final few days and also after the election that we can get this whoever
(04:26):
forms the new government really high up on the political agenda.
I'd love to think a little bit more personally.
We all have an opportunity to vote in this election. Why do you vote and what's
important to you when you think about voting?
I mean I have always voted since I've been eligible because I believe that it's
(04:48):
one of the many ways as a citizen that I have a role to help shape the country
and the community that I want to live in I think it's really important that
if we want to influence the way that our communities are shaped,
that our country is shaped if we have opinions about that then we have a responsibility
to get around the table and to face up to some of those challenging questions,
that are often kind of hyper-focused during an election campaign But I also
(05:10):
realised that I shouldn't take my right to vote for granted.
It's always been quite straightforward for me to access my right to democracy.
You know, I'm digitally literate. I can get online to register to vote.
I've got the right kinds of ID now that I need to vote when I turn up on polling day.
And there's space in my life and in my brain for me to think through the issues
and to engage with the kind of election campaign as it runs up.
(05:33):
That is not the case for everyone and sadly unfortunately over the last few
years there are steps that have been taken like introducing voter id that have
made it harder not easier for people to participate to have their voice heard.
So, you know, I think it's really important that when I turn up,
I'm thinking about both what I think is a top priority, but also for the people
who perhaps in my wider community who are marginalized from the democratic process.
(05:57):
What differences would these policies, would these suggestions make to their lives?
I always think about it like I'm, I suppose, voting in solidarity with the people
who I want to be alongside in my community.
That being said, I think we also have a real responsibility as voters and as
citizens to make sure we break down those barriers to democracy.
Democracy so that when I turn up, I can do that voting in solidarity.
(06:18):
But I also know that my peers in my community who might have otherwise been
marginalised from getting involved actually have access and can be there and
can have their own voice heard themselves because they're the best people who
can carry that into the voting booth.
You mentioned that there are large
numbers of people who are likely to be disenfranchised in the election.
There are also large numbers of people who are likely to
(06:41):
choose not to vote because they feel apathetic or
discouraged what message would you have
for people who maybe aren't sure whether or not they vote
yeah so obviously we're past the the point of
registration now so if you've signed up you're half the way there if
you've got that right to vote then you are at a very close
step to being able to use it and I think I'll just reiterate what
(07:02):
I said before decisions are made by people who show
up if we we have an opinion about how our
country and our communities are shaped we've got to get around the
table I think that voting is just one
of the ways that we're called to show up and participate in our kind of
shared life as a people as a nation as a world it doesn't stop at polling day
we have that responsibility for accountability and engagement in the long term
(07:25):
as well but actually if we want to have an opinion and if we want the right
to have an opinion we've also got that right to vote and participate in the
democratic process and I think it's a really important step we can
spend a lot of time grumbling I think about the problems and it doesn't always
feel like one crossing a box is a very big factor in shaping the solutions to
(07:46):
those problems but actually it is a small but really significant part of the
way that we participate in change.
Yes it is about us and our individual vote but when we are voting with our local
communities for our local representative and we all get to cross that box separately
but together and it's really important.
(08:10):
Thank you, Hannah. Before we close, I'd love to hear from our listeners who
may be thinking about supporting Let's End Poverty and trying to get poverty
higher up the political agenda.
What can people do to get involved in the run up to the election or after the general election?
Action yeah absolutely as the let's end
(08:31):
poverty movement we've been trying to encourage everybody to put poverty
on the agenda in their local constituency particularly by
engaging with the candidates who are standing in their constituency to be
elected and we've made available a number of tools
to help people do that we've got a really easy email your candidates online
action where you can go on find out who the candidates sending in your community
are and if we've got publicly available email addresses for them sending them
(08:55):
an email telling them why you care but asking them to set out why they think
tackling poverty should be a
priority as well and what they would do if they're elected to parliament.
I know it's not too long to go before the election now but I still think getting
those emails into people's inboxes is really helpful because it will enable
you to follow up with a successful candidate afterwards as well.
So actually getting that in their inbox now and then
(09:16):
taking the time after the election to reach out to
the new candidate to welcome them as your kind of
new elected representative in your community and to reiterate that
challenge to them saying that you really want to work alongside them to
tackle poverty and to make sure it's high up the political agenda I
think is a really key step we've also got
some tools online to help you ask questions at hustings events
(09:37):
if you're still going to hustings before voting day then
you can think about how you might ask a question there and even
a little door hanger that you can pop on the back of your front door if campaign
teams come around knocking usually they increase
some of that in the few days before election day so
we're more likely to have them knock on our front door let's be ready to
ask them about poverty and to make sure that it's on the record and
(09:58):
that our communities care and we really want our elected leaders to care as
well these are all small steps we can take to keep building that movement of
people in the UK who won't let poverty hold people down who want to see a future
free from poverty and who will be working alongside and holding accountable
any new government to make sure that's on their agenda.
Those are some really helpful, doable, practical steps that we can all be taking
(10:23):
as we think about engaging with our local candidates and new representatives
to help try and end poverty both before and after the general election.
If you have been listening and you're wondering about how you can do this,
you can go to letsendpoverty.co.uk.
That's lets without an apostrophe.
(10:44):
The link is in the show notes. Also, if you're wanting to hear more about what
JPIT's doing, both around the election and after, go to jpit.uk.
Hannah, thank you so much for spending time with us today. It's been really
great chatting to you. And thank you all so much for listening.
If you've enjoyed the show, please do share it around.
(11:04):
And happy voting in the election next week.
Welcome to 10 Minutes On, a podcast from the Joint Public Issues Team.
My name's Sienna, I'm a Joint Public Issues Team intern. Joining me today is
Hannah, who is a campaigner for Let's End Poverty.
Let's End Poverty is a diverse and growing movement of people in the UK who
are united behind the vision for the UK where poverty can't keep anyone down.
(00:21):
Thank you so much for being here today.
As we all know, a general election is coming up and the campaign is in full swing.
Hannah, I'd love to hear a little bit about why you think we need to get poverty
on the political agenda.
Thank you, Sienna. Yeah, I think we've heard a lot during this run up to the
election about the cost of living crisis and perhaps the toll the last few years have taken.
(00:42):
But what we haven't heard much about is the long term trend of poverty,
both rising and deepening in the UK.
We know that at this stage, about one in five people in the UK are struggling
against poverty every day. but what's perhaps even more alarming is that levels
of destitution have almost doubled since 2017.
So that's people in the most deep form of poverty.
(01:03):
Children are the most likely group to be experiencing poverty in the UK today
with around 1 million children experiencing destitution.
These are levels that have completely skyrocketed. More and more people are
having to turn towards emergency measures of support just to get by every day.
They're no longer just there for a crisis, they're there to support people
(01:23):
through the everyday costs and essentials of
life and I don't believe that's good enough I don't
believe it's what our communities want for our neighbours and
for the people who we live alongside who are experiencing hardship and
what we're seeing is not enough attention from political leaders on acknowledging
the scale of the problem never mind the solutions and that
we have we believe as a movement that poverty is avoidable it's solvable it
(01:47):
doesn't need to exist in an increasingly wealthy country like the UK what's
missing is a political willingness to kind of pick up the tools to tackle poverty
that exist and to use them with that focus on ending poverty completely in the UK.
I think every time I particularly hear that destitution has doubled,
it just really hits home the fact that actually the UK is not in a good way
(02:10):
at the moment and that it's the people who are most marginalized who are struggling the most.
So Hannah, as Let's End Poverty, what are you hoping to achieve?
What would it look like for politicians to take poverty seriously? seriously.
Yeah, so like I've said, I think there's a whole host of options for political
(02:33):
leaders to pick up and use to start tackling poverty in the UK.
There are some great organisations who've been working really hard to draw on
their experience of providing frontline support to come up with policies that
will really make a difference.
The Trussell Trust have a roadmap where they set out what ending poverty in
the UK, ending the need for food banks in their language would look like.
(02:53):
Those solutions exist. What we need now is for whoever forms the next government
to take seriously their role in being part of the solution and I think a really
key first step to that would be committing to developing a long-term strategy
to tackle poverty in the UK that includes people with lived experience of poverty
in that process of decision making.
(03:13):
So rather than making decisions at a distance from people's lives who are at
the sharpest end of poverty, recognising that their experience of poverty and
hardship means they hold expertise and insight into the impact of policies on their daily lives.
We know that nobody's life is straightforward, but that is even more the case
when you are living day to day, struggling to make ends meet.
(03:35):
We need people who are at the decision-making end of policymaking to really
get to know, to listen to people who are at the sharp end of poverty and living
it every day, to create solutions that last.
And don't just see this as a crisis that's popped up over the short term to
fix, but recognise the long-term trends and therefore the long-term solutions
to poverty that we need that's going to set us on the right path.
(03:59):
I completely agree that actually there's so much that we can gain from having
people who have lived experience at the heart of policymakers life and life
experience is such a teacher and really should inform the way that we think
about the way that we address issues.
I really hope that politicians listen both in the run-up to the election in
the final few days and also after the election that we can get this whoever
(04:26):
forms the new government really high up on the political agenda.
I'd love to think a little bit more personally.
We all have an opportunity to vote in this election. Why do you vote and what's
important to you when you think about voting?
I mean I have always voted since I've been eligible because I believe that it's
(04:48):
one of the many ways as a citizen that I have a role to help shape the country
and the community that I want to live in I think it's really important that
if we want to influence the way that our communities are shaped,
that our country is shaped if we have opinions about that then we have a responsibility
to get around the table and to face up to some of those challenging questions,
that are often kind of hyper-focused during an election campaign But I also
(05:10):
realised that I shouldn't take my right to vote for granted.
It's always been quite straightforward for me to access my right to democracy.
You know, I'm digitally literate. I can get online to register to vote.
I've got the right kinds of ID now that I need to vote when I turn up on polling day.
And there's space in my life and in my brain for me to think through the issues
and to engage with the kind of election campaign as it runs up.
(05:33):
That is not the case for everyone and sadly unfortunately over the last few
years there are steps that have been taken like introducing voter id that have
made it harder not easier for people to participate to have their voice heard.
So, you know, I think it's really important that when I turn up,
I'm thinking about both what I think is a top priority, but also for the people
who perhaps in my wider community who are marginalized from the democratic process.
(05:57):
What differences would these policies, would these suggestions make to their lives?
I always think about it like I'm, I suppose, voting in solidarity with the people
who I want to be alongside in my community.
That being said, I think we also have a real responsibility as voters and as
citizens to make sure we break down those barriers to democracy.
Democracy so that when I turn up, I can do that voting in solidarity.
(06:18):
But I also know that my peers in my community who might have otherwise been
marginalised from getting involved actually have access and can be there and
can have their own voice heard themselves because they're the best people who
can carry that into the voting booth.
You mentioned that there are large
numbers of people who are likely to be disenfranchised in the election.
There are also large numbers of people who are likely to
(06:41):
choose not to vote because they feel apathetic or
discouraged what message would you have
for people who maybe aren't sure whether or not they vote
yeah so obviously we're past the the point of
registration now so if you've signed up you're half the way there if
you've got that right to vote then you are at a very close
step to being able to use it and I think I'll just reiterate what
(07:02):
I said before decisions are made by people who show
up if we we have an opinion about how our
country and our communities are shaped we've got to get around the
table I think that voting is just one
of the ways that we're called to show up and participate in our kind of
shared life as a people as a nation as a world it doesn't stop at polling day
we have that responsibility for accountability and engagement in the long term
(07:25):
as well but actually if we want to have an opinion and if we want the right
to have an opinion we've also got that right to vote and participate in the
democratic process and I think it's a really important step we can
spend a lot of time grumbling I think about the problems and it doesn't always
feel like one crossing a box is a very big factor in shaping the solutions to
(07:46):
those problems but actually it is a small but really significant part of the
way that we participate in change.
Yes it is about us and our individual vote but when we are voting with our local
communities for our local representative and we all get to cross that box separately
but together and it's really important.
(08:10):
Thank you, Hannah. Before we close, I'd love to hear from our listeners who
may be thinking about supporting Let's End Poverty and trying to get poverty
higher up the political agenda.
What can people do to get involved in the run up to the election or after the general election?
Action yeah absolutely as the let's end
(08:31):
poverty movement we've been trying to encourage everybody to put poverty
on the agenda in their local constituency particularly by
engaging with the candidates who are standing in their constituency to be
elected and we've made available a number of tools
to help people do that we've got a really easy email your candidates online
action where you can go on find out who the candidates sending in your community
are and if we've got publicly available email addresses for them sending them
(08:55):
an email telling them why you care but asking them to set out why they think
tackling poverty should be a
priority as well and what they would do if they're elected to parliament.
I know it's not too long to go before the election now but I still think getting
those emails into people's inboxes is really helpful because it will enable
you to follow up with a successful candidate afterwards as well.
So actually getting that in their inbox now and then
(09:16):
taking the time after the election to reach out to
the new candidate to welcome them as your kind of
new elected representative in your community and to reiterate that
challenge to them saying that you really want to work alongside them to
tackle poverty and to make sure it's high up the political agenda I
think is a really key step we've also got
some tools online to help you ask questions at hustings events
(09:37):
if you're still going to hustings before voting day then
you can think about how you might ask a question there and even
a little door hanger that you can pop on the back of your front door if campaign
teams come around knocking usually they increase
some of that in the few days before election day so
we're more likely to have them knock on our front door let's be ready to
ask them about poverty and to make sure that it's on the record and
(09:58):
that our communities care and we really want our elected leaders to care as
well these are all small steps we can take to keep building that movement of
people in the UK who won't let poverty hold people down who want to see a future
free from poverty and who will be working alongside and holding accountable
any new government to make sure that's on their agenda.
Those are some really helpful, doable, practical steps that we can all be taking
(10:23):
as we think about engaging with our local candidates and new representatives
to help try and end poverty both before and after the general election.
If you have been listening and you're wondering about how you can do this,
you can go to letsendpoverty.co.uk.
That's lets without an apostrophe.
(10:44):
The link is in the show notes. Also, if you're wanting to hear more about what
JPIT's doing, both around the election and after, go to jpit.uk.
Hannah, thank you so much for spending time with us today. It's been really
great chatting to you. And thank you all so much for listening.
If you've enjoyed the show, please do share it around.
(11:04):
And happy voting in the election next week.
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