This day In the Yesteryear: THE PETERLOO MASSACRE (1819)

The Peterloo Massacre (1819)

On August 16, 1819, 60,000 men, women, and children gathered at St. Peter‘s Field in Manchester, England, to protest unemployment and high food prices. To disperse the gathering, city officials sent in the untrained volunteer cavalry, which attacked the unarmed crowd with sabers. At least 11 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded. The incident, likened to the Battle of Waterloo, sparked widespread indignation. In 2007, a memorial plaque at the site was changed to include what? More… Discuss

 

Foodbank handouts double as more families end up on the breadline (from the Guardian)

Excerpts:  “Five years ago debt was the issue. Now it is benefit delays and delays in getting crisis loans. There are serious inefficiencies in the welfare system,” he said.

In previous years, the vast majority of foodbank customers came just once, to help them over a temporary crisis, said Mould, but the charity was now seeing more repeat customers. “If you are on a low income and you are dealing with a deterioration in that as a result of higher food prices, higher rents and falling wages, you are going to get more people who just cannot hold it together.”