Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:41 am on 4 September 2025.
Calvin Bailey
Labour, Leyton and Wanstead
10:41,
4 September 2025
This Labour Government have committed £13 million to tackling food poverty, supported by an expansion of free school meals and a drive to get fresh produce from farms to families’ tables. After 14 years of Tory economic failure, too many families are still struggling and food banks remain indispensable. In Leyton and Wanstead, a much-loved food bank, PL84U, recently faced eviction, but thanks to the swift action of Waltham Forest council, especially Councillors Grace Williams and Ahsan Khan, it has a new home—I am sure my hon. Friend Ms Creasy will be pleased to invite the Leader of the House to visit Saira and her team. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on how we support food banks and community aid to secure premises while this Government get on with the work to tackle the Tory failures that mean they must remain?
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
