With the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II being scheduled to take place on 19 September, several food banks in the United Kingdom have announced that they won’t be operating on the day the British monarch is laid to rest.
According to The Independent, on Tuesday the Stoke-on-Trent food bank declared that three of its distribution centers will be closed, with food banks in East Elmbridge, East Grinstead, Grantham, Ringwood, and South Sefton following suit.
The development comes as the UK government has declared the day of the funeral an official bank holiday, with numerous hospital appointments, funerals, and theater performances being cancelled, and museums and supermarkets closing, the newspaper notes.
This situation apparently does not sit well with quite a few people, who voiced their concerns on social media.
“Why are food banks being closed in the UK in honour of the Queen's funeral?” one netizen wondered. “Surely the Royal family, and the new King, believe that vulnerable families, and the homeless need that vital support?”
“Closing food banks and cancelling NHS operations and interventions on Monday is being done ‘out of respect’ for a dead monarch. The distillation of everything that is wrong with the UK in two fleeting acts of abject cruelty,” another remarked.
“When someone dies it’s a strange feeling that the world keeps moving around you, yet when the queen dies the uk gov (sic!) expect the world to stop? They’re closing food banks out of ‘respect’ to her. They’re starving people out of respect. We are literally in the Middle Ages,” mused yet another social media user.
The newspaper points out, however, that a spokesperson for the Trussel Trust – a non-profit supporting a network of food banks in the United Kingdom – said that most of the food banks are independent and were given an option to either stay open or closed on the funeral day.
“Food banks are all independent, but we have emailed saying it is a bank holiday and they can decide what to do,” the spokesperson said. “It really depends on the local need on the ground, the volunteers will know if they are particularly quiet on a Monday, or if it is a busier day.”
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8 at the age of 96, having ruled the country for more than 70 years.