THE Covid-19 pandemic has led to a sharp jump in food insecurity across Britain, a new report has revealed.

Research by the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Oxfam found that the financial impact of Covid had left families who were already struggling even more impoverished while also introducing many others to the realities of life with little money.

The report also highlighted that food charities and wrap-around services — such as mental health support and benefit advice —  were suspended due to the pandemic, leaving many much worse off.

It warned that without action to tackle the underlying drivers of the income crisis during the recovery from Covid-19, there will be little progress towards achieving the UN’s “zero hunger” goal by 2030.

Oxfam Scotland head Jamie Livingstone said: “The solution is not and has never been to simply give people charitable food to put on the table, it’s to make sure they have enough money to buy food themselves and that demands action to bolster the social safety net and to tackle in-work poverty.”