Ledbury Big Issue vendor tells local MP: 'Take my concerns to Westminster'

MP for North Herefordshire Ellie Chowns sat down with Big Issue vendor Monica last Friday (7^th February) to discuss what more needs to be done for people living on low incomes in her constituency and across the wider UK.

Monica is a familiar face to the people of Ledbury. She has been selling the Big Issue outside the high street’s branch of Boots for the past 5 years.

Ellie Chowns MP – who is an End Poverty Champion with the Big Issue – met with Monica and Big Issue support worker Mohammed Afzal in a café to discuss what more the government can do for local people struggling to make ends meet in the face of sky-rocketing rents and growing bills.

In North Herefordshire, nearly 1 in 5 (19%) children live in poverty. Since 2014, the constituency has seen a shocking 44% increase in child poverty. ^[1]

Chowns has shown her support for the Big Issue’s ‘Poverty Zero’ campaign, calling for the government to set legally binding poverty reduction targets to combat the current poverty crisis, which has seen destitution double in the UK since 2017. The Big Issue argues that these targets would force Westminster to prioritise action on poverty and enable campaigners to hold the government to account.

As with Net Zero, the current and future leaders of the UK would be committed by law to these targets. Governments would have to publish plans to show how they would meet them, and if the plan wasn’t sufficient, they could be challenged in court.

Ellie Chowns, MP for North Herefordshire, said: “My meeting with Monica provided heartbreaking insights into the shocking reality of the cost-of-living crisis. Our conversation emphasised to me yet again how the gross under-provision of social housing in this country is at the root of so many problems that people face.

“I’m fully supportive of the Big Issue’s Poverty Zero campaign. We need to grip this problem with the ferocity that it deserves, because it is outrageous that in a country like ours people are still struggling so much. I’m very impressed by the work of the Big Issue and I’ll do everything I can in Parliament to support the campaign.”

Big Issue vendor Monica said: “It was great to meet Ellie and chat about some of the pressures on my family.

“Rents keep going up, as do my bills and my weekly shop. I hope she’ll be able to take my concerns to Westminster, and convince the government to do more for all of us still dealing with the rising cost of living.”

Mohammed Afzal, who leads the Big Issue’s support team in the West Midlands, added: “I work with vendors throughout the Midlands, and I see the hard work that goes into selling the mag to make ends meet. But still so many individuals are being forced to tighten their belts and make cutbacks on essentials that a few years ago they could have afforded.

“It’s brilliant to have local MPs like Ellie wanting to hear directly from vendors about these challenges and bring about some action. Our vendors do all they can to help themselves, and I’d like to see the government do its part to lighten the load.”

[1] Children in low income families: local area statistics, published by gov.uk on 26 March 2020 and last updated on 13 December 2024