Child poverty in the North East is now the highest in the UK and here in Middlesbrough more than two in every five children go hungry. This is as shameful as it is heartbreaking. These are not statistics – they are children who do not have enough to eat in this rich country of ours.

It lays bare the criminal failure of the Conservatives in Government since 2010. No amount of unrelenting optimism, massaging figures, ‘levelling up’ or ‘building back better’ can mask the stark daily reality of poverty for so many of our children in Middlesbrough. This Tory Government has failed.

North East child poverty now highest in the UK – North East Child Poverty Commission | Every child deserves an equal chance in life. (nechildpoverty.org.uk)