Gordon Brown aiming to end poverty with Multibank project

Gordon Brown sat down with ITV News’ Chris Conway to discuss why he is fighting to end poverty in the UK, what support is available for those struggling to make ends meet and his hopes for the future of his Multibank project

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes the Multibank scheme he launched in 2021 will eventually end up being replicated around the world.

Fifteen years after leaving Downing Street, the ex-Labour leader is continuing his fight against poverty in the UK by launching a sixth Multibank, this time in the West Midlands.

A multibank operates like a food bank, but instead of just stocking food, it also has clothes, bedding, baby products, toys, and furniture.

The first Multibank opened in 2021 in his hometown of Fife, with other Multibanks opening later, including one in the Tees Valley. He believes the model works so well that other charities across the globe will want to reproduce the idea on their shores.

Brown said: “Across the UK, across Europe, across America. There will always be a need for repurposing surplus goods. And what we’ve started in Britain I think is going to flow to Europe. And I know people have come across to America to look at it. I think this idea of an anti-pollution bank, will always be something that is wanted.

“What we realised is there’s been a shocking rise in child poverty over 15 years in many places. You don’t want families having to choose between heating, eating and even keeping clean by not being able to buy soap and shampoo and toothpaste and so on like that.

“It used to be pensioner poverty that we were most worried about. But it’s child poverty that is growing so much over recent years particularly in city regions.”

Last year, research by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition suggested that at least one in four children were living in poverty in two-thirds of parliamentary constituencies, something Brown admits is shocking and the reason he is so determined to see his Multibank network succeed.

The 74-year-old added: “I grew up in an industrial town, Kirkcaldy, in Scotland, and I saw poverty around me. I can’t bear the idea of children not having the means by which they can actually fulfill the potential. Not ready for school, not able to benefit from school, leaving school because they don’t have the money to be able to stay on at school because it is costly for a parent to keep a kid at school.”

The former PM has defended the current Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves over decisions she’s taken to balance the countries books that some feel have increased pressure on working people.

It comes as the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall outlined radical changes to the benefits system to get more people into work and save £5 billion by 2030.

Brown said: “70% of children who are in poverty are in families where someone’s working. So the minimum wage is actually going to go up quite significantly in April. And obviously, we’re looking for a big child poverty review to deal with that problem of low pay and work.

“One of the problems in our economy is we’ve got skills shortages and yet we’ve got low pay. So if you can give people the skills to get into the better jobs, what I mean, better paid jobs, then you take taking people out of poverty as well.

“Small things can often make a huge difference to someone’s life. Yes, food matters, but so do those toothpaste, soap, shampoo, you know, cleaning materials. And I think Britain has got compassion. You know, people in Britain want to see things get better. And I think if we work as a community, we can do that.”