Poverty, hunger and unemployment... Britain is going through an unprecedented living crisis

London

The British police are moving towards adopting a policy close to that of the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab in the year of Ramada, which was a year of famine and poverty, by stopping the theft limit, given the exceptional circumstances that the Islamic state was going through at that period.

The Inspector General of the British Police surprised everyone by recommending the police to use its powers with a lot of rationalization and wisdom in dealing with those involved in food theft, taking into account that the country is going through an unprecedented price crisis.

The Inspector General of British Police Andy Cook said that the impact of poverty, declining job opportunities and the rise in the cost of living will lead to an increase in crime, which means more pressure on policemen who will have to implement their powers, but without strictness.

spirit of law

The living crisis has not happened to the British since the Second World War as it is now, after the inflation rate reached 9%, which is expected to reach 10%, the highest rate in more than 50 years.

These circumstances prompted the Inspector General of the British Police to submit a proposal to the British Police to deal wisely with those involved in food theft to meet their eating needs, due to the increasing inability among British families to provide their food.

The British official's statements sparked a lot of controversy and warnings that they might be misunderstood as if they disrupted the law. The Inspector General responded that his statements were "not a blank check for thieves for theft, but an attempt to find an equation between maintaining public order and observing the circumstances the country is going through."

However, these statements did not live up to the British government's police minister, who considered that linking the cost of living crisis and the rise in crime was "old thinking" and could not justify committing theft crimes.

poor and hunger

"I'm giving up a meal a day so that I can feed my children" was the shocking statement made by a family member to one of the British channels, and it turned into a slogan for the campaign to help the poor and sounded the alarm about the deteriorating living situation of British families, as 14 million Britons are now living in poverty. The poverty line in Britain is based on anyone who earns less than $150 per week.

When asked, Muhammad Abdul Rahman - who is responsible for a food bank in east London - confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that they are dealing with an unprecedented situation, "I can say that the demand for food baskets rose this year by more than 100%."

The British humanitarian activist added that there are several families who prefer to have cold meals, because they do not want to bear the costs of heating them at home due to the high energy bill.

There are many shocking stories about the deteriorating living conditions in Britain, for example, a woman who told the British media that she spends her day moving between buses to get warm, because she is no longer able to pay the gas bill at home.

As for Umm Yassin - a woman working in a food store - she confirmed to Al Jazeera that she is currently working not for money, but in order to get a daily share of food, because her salary does not enable her to buy anything for her children.

Sadly, in short, Umm Yassin considered herself one of many cases whose main concern is providing food for her family members. The situation is getting worse, and the government has reduced government aid by about 25 pounds per week.

An unprecedented crisis

Most economic reports agree to describe the crisis experienced by British families as the worst since World War I, and in the report of the British Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) it confirmed that the poverty rate in the country reached a level unprecedented in a century in 2021. .

For example, the poverty rate moved from 13% in 1996 to 17.4% in 2020, and it is expected that this number will continue to rise during the current year.

In another report by the National Institution for Economic and Social Research "NIESR" (NIESR), data revealed that about 250 thousand British families are at risk of extreme poverty during the next year, which may raise the number of families living in severe poverty to more than 1.2 million families.

British Inspector General of Police: Poverty, declining job opportunities and the high cost of living will lead to an increase in crime (Getty Images)

The specter of lawlessness

A hot summer awaits the British police in various regions of the country, which prompted the security and intelligence institutions to prepare for the scenario of unrest and insecurity driven by the economic crisis.

According to the British newspaper "The Times", the security forces receive reports from various intelligence services about the possibility of major breaches of public order during the summer, and a plan has been drawn up to support the security services when needed to ensure that things do not get out of control.

According to the newspaper’s sources, the intelligence reports so far do not expect a major security crisis, but they are dealing with all possibilities, especially since the summer will witness the Queen’s celebrations of the diamond jubilee of her accession to the throne, and the Commonwealth Games, in addition to a number of art festivals, which needs a lot of security efforts. .

But what the British police fear most is the increase in violence cases and the growing sense of anger among the British people due to the pressure of the economic crisis, which may lead to an increase in the number of crimes.