Now that all of the manifestos have been published perhaps it is time to focus on some of the challenges of daily life, as well as the superficial promises or aspirations that each contender for Government has included in their glossy brochures. All of us will have ideas which we might have wished to see included that have not made it into print. I feel increasingly concerned about the failure of the two major parties to address the issue of food banks in a meaningful way. The last Labour Government refused to enable agencies such as job centres to offer access to food banks for people who had just registered for benefits and were in a difficult financial position. This Government and its coalition predecessor changed that position but despite an enormous increase in foodbanks over the last seven years we still have Government Ministers including the Prime Minister who are openly opposed to or out of touch with how they operate and what the Government should do about them. In my manifesto that would be a very high priority issue, sadly of the two main parties only Labour included a single reference to foodbanks in their manifesto and this was as a comment on society. Neither party seems to have a plan to ensure that the demand for foodbanks are reduced or eliminated over the next 5 years.