Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
It’s called poverty, Mr Blight
A short piece by TALLULAH COULTHARD, aged 10, about life as a child on universal credit
Tallulah Coulthard knows what it's like to have to use a foodbank

GOOD morning everyone, how are you feeling, said the headmaster, Mr Blight, as he walked into the assembly room. 

Out of 10, how is your day so far? The crowd grumbled, a child put their hand up followed by a couple of more children. 

The first child said: “When I woke up I was hungry, starving in fact because I have had no tea or breakfast for the last one-and-a-half weeks. My mum is poor and can’t pay the fees for school dinners nor packed lunches so I have to go to this place called a foodbank. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Gisele Pelicot presents the German edition of her memoir, 'A Hymn for Life', in Hamburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

Gisele Pelicot said ‘shame must change sides.’ We may think we agree, but, argues LOUISE RAW, society still has some way to go

amy
Short Story / 9 May 2025
9 May 2025

‘Chance encounters are what keep us going,’ says novelist Haruki Murakami. In Amy, a chance encounter gives fresh perspective to memories of angst, hedonism and a charismatic teenage rebel.

Woman alone
Features / 28 April 2025
28 April 2025

It’s tiring always being viewed as the ‘wrong sort of woman,’ writes JENNA, a woman who has exited the sex industry