HOW is it possible in 2013 in the UK that one in five, that's a staggering 20 per cent of our children, are living in poverty?

An incredible 42 percent, nearly half of all the children living in the shadow of the Gherkin and the square mile of the City, where the movers and shakers who caused this economic catastrophe are still on six figure salaries while the children in their midst are queuing at food banks.

Is this a Dickensian nightmare or actually life in 2013? The Tory and Lib Dem policies that are trashing the lives and future prospects of these children are forgetting one thing... these children represent the country’s future and their early lives are blighted by hunger, poor housing and social deprivation.

Does this coalition Government think they will be well placed to play their part in the technologically-advanced future and help the UK compete with Germany and other world economies?

Or is this Government condemning not only our children but the future and economic prospects of the country? And what of the present and future of this town? This Tory town. As many contributors have pointed out it looks shabby and tired after years of stalled and unsuccessful projects.

Perhaps the Tory voters are content to see 20 per cent of our local children in poverty as Boscombe and Kinson are probably not places they visit very often.

Perhaps the Echo could bring us a series of stories in the lives of a child living in poverty and take the child out of a statistical number and make real what is undoubtedly a country and town in decline.

LORRAINE ZAVADIL, Huntly Road, Bournemouth