Shakil Sidat

Director of Services at @NZF_org_uk. LCFC. All views are my own and retweets are not endorsements.

[The Food Foundation @Food_Foundation]

Our data shows that 1 in 3 households in receipt of Universal Credit are experiencing food insecurity (as of June 2026)

Food prices keep going up and healthy food costs nearly twice as much as unhealthy food (per calorie) 📈

A system meant to cover life’s essentials is failing us - Universal Credit thinks £98 per week is enough for food, housing, bills and transport

No one should have to choose between paying their bills and buying healthy food for their families ⚖️

Contribute now to the independent inquiry on Universal Credit before it closes on 7 September ➡️ https://t.co/caPrJKi3g6

Universal Credit should be there for all of us when we need it ✊

#UniversalCredit #GuaranteeOurEssentials #CostOfLiving @jrf_uk @TrussellUK

[Shit Nonprofits Say @nonprofitssay]

Board packet: "This is too much to read."

Executive summary: "Still too much to read."

Dashboard: "I don't understand all these numbers."

Red/Yellow/Green lights: "Are three lights too many?"

Thumbs up/down: "I fear we're missing the nuance."

[Trussell @TrussellUK]

People aren’t turning to food banks because they don’t have access to food.

Food isn’t the problem. Lack of money is.

[Islamic Relief UK @IslamicReliefUK]

🔴 Islamic Relief UK is deeply shocked and saddened by the violent attacks that took place in Edinburgh on Friday evening.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by these distressing events.

Learn more.👇🏽 https://t.co/PeaHqf7YCQ

[Trussell @TrussellUK]

🚨 BREAKING: 1.25 MILLION young people could be out of work or training in 5 years, if no action is taken.

Young people are being failed by the very systems that are meant to support them, including health, education and social security.

[GiveDirectly💸 @GiveDirectly]

Read the full profile of @drmiriamo https://t.co/LgLcWw1x6d

[Lucy Bannister @LucyJLBannister]

Today @turn2us_org were in parliament to launch our new report & campaign to #StopTheStigma and fix the system.

Almost all of us will need our social security system at some point, but our society's distrust of claimants has been baked into its policies and practice (1/6)

[Trussell @TrussellUK]

Sky-high rents and a lack of support from Local Housing Allowance mean that people are struggling to find safe and healthy homes.

And we see that families are having to make impossible decisions between whether to pay rent or put food on the table 💔

[Dr Sohail Hanif @sohailhanif]

Ummah as structured community: I believe the Sacred Law calls us to create communities with leadership structures and that this is what unlocks the full mercy, kindness and solutions from this sacred tradition. I discussed this on the Thinking Muslim: https://t.co/rM5IDyBNLA

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Believe it or not, I had an old school friend on today’s marches in London. He sent me some photos from the crowd.

We went to middle school together and grew up on the same Eastern District council estate in Northampton.

I asked him why he was there. He gave me two answers:
1.“The government doesn’t listen to us.”
2.“I want to feel proud of my country again.”

He wore a Union Jack, not a St George’s Cross as he said that one had been hijacked by racists.

He wasn’t there for Hopkins, Musk, or any of the professional ‘grifters’ as he put it. He was there to feel part of something bigger, though he admitted there were a lot of, in his words, “assholes” there.

He’s an electrician. He’s smart. He’s not racist, but he’s not “PC” either. He’s not a fan of Keir Starmer but he also believes Farage would be a disaster.

Oh yes, he’s a bundle of contradictions! But aren’t we all?

I don’t know what ‘box’ we put him or the millions like him in. And I think pretending they’re all racists or fascists would be a massive mistake.

Some were. But not all.

This is about something bigger than immigration slogans or GDP numbers. For decades we’ve hollowed out our national life, underfunding and undermining the very institutions that once brought us together.

Karl Polanyi, writing in The Great Transformation, argued that when markets are “disembodied” from society, when land, labour, and life itself are treated as commodities
society pushes back. He called this the “double movement”: people seeking to protect themselves, to reclaim dignity and meaning when everything solid seems to melt into air.

That’s what I saw in my friend’s photos. Not just anger, but a demand for belonging.

We’ve replaced collective experience with atomisation. Without getting too nostalgic, programmes like the BBC’s Generation Game once pulled in millions every Saturday night, giving us something we could all talk about on Monday morning. Now we watch Netflix, Disney+, Prime, or Paramount, alone, in algorithmic silos.

Football used to be affordable and rooted in community; now it’s millionaires playing for the profitability of billionaires. The NHS, the post office, the railways - all chipped away, run down, sold off or centralised, leaving people feeling powerless and disconnected.

And don’t get me wrong: some kind of “Hovis Labour” nostalgia for the 1950s isn’t the answer. The country back then was often intolerant, grey, and deeply unequal. But what we’ve built since is a society that gives people little to hold in common, no collective story about who we are or what we’re for.

I reckon that’s partly why my mate marched. Not because he wants to turn back the clock. But because he wants to feel pride again. Pride in a country that is inclusive, fair, and offers a role for everyone. Pride in a nation that has a respected place in the world, tackles grotesque inequality, and gives people something real to believe in.

Polanyi warned that when democracies fail to provide a humane alternative, the backlash can turn authoritarian. This is how fascism grew in the 1930s, not because everyone became a true believer, but because millions felt abandoned and looked for strength, identity, and meaning wherever they could find it.

If Labour and progressives don’t offer that story of renewal, if we don’t rebuild our national institutions, restore collective pride, and re-embed markets within society, the far right will do it for us, in their own image.

And by then, it will be too late.

[Save the Children UK @savechildrenuk]

This is yet more evidence that incomes in the UK do not adequately cover the cost of food.

Ministers know that the most significant way it can support families on the lowest incomes is to scrap the two-child limit to Universal Credit.

They must do this in the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy due this Autumn or the UK Government will see the need for emergency food relief increase.

[Max Ghenis @MaxGhenis]

One-time $1,000 transfers from @GiveDirectly to poor households in Kenya reduced:
- Infant deaths by 48%
- Under-5 deaths by 45%
- Female labor supply by 51% in the three months before and after birth

[GiveDirectly💸 @GiveDirectly]

“This is easily the biggest impact on child survival that I’ve seen from an intervention that was designed to alleviate poverty"
https://t.co/kQM7mk3Lwl

[WTFox @WTFox1884]

And it’s live! 🎉

ICON: Jamie Vardy – 200 goals. 500 appearances. 13 unforgettable years at #LCFC.

Early bird Pre-order for a limited time with 15% OFF early bird, link 👉🏻 https://t.co/YKmTmmYk1X

Estimated dispatch: late Aug / early Sept.

Don’t miss this 💙 #JamieVardy

[Shakil Sidat @shakilsidat]

We talk a lot about policy, but real resilience starts locally. As a sector, it’s our role to help build and sustain these spaces.

[Shakil Sidat @shakilsidat]

I’ve seen how community centres and local spaces become lifelines — not just places to gather, but where people access cash, advice, dignity.

https://t.co/ZWSojBbnmm

[National Zakat Foundation @NZF_org_uk]

🚨 1 in 4 UK children are in poverty.
📊 49% in Black & Asian families.
🧊 1 in 3 parents cut energy to stay warm.
We need a Zakat system that protects our own.
➡️ https://t.co/uZgtEIxokj | #Zakat #ChildPoverty #UKMuslims

[Shakil Sidat @shakilsidat]

Wages aren’t keeping up, and full-time jobs no longer guarantee stability. The system needs more than patchwork fixes.
https://t.co/q3HBjxypbG

[Shakil Sidat @shakilsidat]

It’s striking how poverty dynamics are shifting. According to @jrf_uk, over half of those in poverty are now in work — and we’re seeing this first-hand at @NZF_org_uk.

[Shakil Sidat @shakilsidat]

New data shows over 1.3 million families are on waiting lists for social housing in England, with some facing waits of 50–100 years. This is a national scandal, long‑term investment in affordable housing is essential. #SocialWelfare #HousingCrisis 🔗https://t.co/dNxlDjYFBF