Merseyside MP Holds Citizen Assembly Into Right To Food Security
Ian Byrne MP, Liverpool West Derby is the Parliamentary lead for The Right To Food Campaign, with the main objective being to make access to food a legal right for all by having the Right to Food enshrined in law.
The Right To Food campaign comprises a wide range of national and local organisations and campaigners with a shared aim: to end the scandal of hunger and foodbanks once and for all.
“The problem of escalating food poverty in the UK can be fixed. There is a clear correlation between reduced government spending on welfare for families and the huge growth in foodbank usage. Like austerity, it is a political choice not a pre-determined occurrence. But it cannot be fixed without concerted effort by Government to take clear responsibility in developing solutions and policy to eradicate the problem at the root.” said Ian Byrne in his email to his constituants and the wider Merseyside community.
Why is this campaign necessary?
The number of British households in severe food insecurity is increasing, with Research by Trussell shows that 14.1 million people - including 3.8 million children - faced hunger in the UK in 2024 because they didn’t have enough money for food.
That’s one in six (16%) households in the UK going without enough food because they can’t afford it. This is up on 2022, when one in seven (14%) households, or 11.6 million people facing hunger in the UK.
Invite to first citizen's assembly on food security
The first Citizens' Assembly of the Right To Food UK Commission takes place this Thursday 29th January 2026 at the Joseph Lappin Centre, L13 5TF, at 5pm.
Members of the public are warmly invited to attend this event on Thursday to help shape the work of our national Commission on the Right To Food.
The campaign organisers would especially like to hear from members of the public who with lived experience of food insecurity and those who work in an organisation or role that deals with food insecurity.
Submit your evidence to the Right To Food UK Commission online - click above
Background:
Inaugural Right to Food UK Conference Calls for Urgent Action On Food Insecurity
On 13 September 2025, the Right to Food Campaign, in partnership with the University of Westminster, held the inaugural Right to Food UK Conference, bringing together campaigners, health professionals, academics and community leaders to address the UK’s deepening food insecurity crisis and its growing impact on public health.
The conference opened with a keynote address outlining the campaign’s five pillars and emphasising that hunger in the UK is a political choice. Delegates were urged to work collectively for change and to hold government accountable for delivering the Right to Food.
Discussions highlighted the need for collective action alongside the campaign’s core demands. Participants called for increased engagement with MPs, the expansion of grassroots Right to Food groups across towns and cities, and visible public actions, including hunger marches, to ensure government listens.
The conference also examined the role of the NHS, agreeing that health strategies must place communities and nutrition at their centre. Evidence from London’s free school meals programme was cited, showing reductions in obesity alongside improvements in student engagement, learning and attention.
Delegates agreed that local authorities require adequate resources to support community food provision, including community kitchens, meals-on-wheels services and food-growing initiatives that strengthen nutrition, health and wellbeing. The conference stressed that access to public health nutrition services should not depend on postcode.
The role of community health nutritionists was also explored, with participants noting their potential to bridge schools, clinics and communities while creating employment opportunities for young people.
The conference concluded that a joined-up approach is needed to place food security at the heart of health, nutrition and food systems, shifting power away from large food industries towards community-led solutions. Strong food standards, backed by an independent enforcement body with legal powers, were identified as essential to holding government to account and building sustainable local food systems that deliver nutritious, culturally appropriate food and food justice for all.
Right to Food UK Commission Sets Out Plan to End Food Insecurity
The Right to Food UK Commission has been established to highlight the unacceptable scale of food insecurity in Britain, identify practical solutions to a longstanding national crisis, and apply sustained pressure on the UK Government, devolved administrations, and policymakers across all UK jurisdictions to take decisive action.
The Commission will focus on developing a clear roadmap for the implementation of a Right to Food law in the UK. This work is intended to underpin a coordinated programme of actions to end hunger by 2035, with an interim target of halving the number of people experiencing food insecurity by 2030.
Following its formal launch in Parliament on 17 November 2025, the Commission will begin its work with a series of evidence sessions across the UK. The first session will take place in Liverpool in January 2026, followed by sessions in Belfast, Newcastle, Glasgow, Cardiff and London.
Each evidence session will be preceded by a citizen’s assembly, ensuring that the lived experiences of people affected by food insecurity help shape the Commission’s findings and recommendations.
Source: Derek Maylor / Ian Byrne MP / Right To Food Commission
