Ken Loach revisits I, Daniel Blake: ‘We were asking if food banks are tolerable. Now they’re an institution’

The scene at the food bank, recalls the director, where Katie is so hungry, she pours baked beans into her hand from a tin and eats them cold, came from a real story In 2016, we were – as we continue to be – in a time of mean-spiritedness. If you were vulnerable or needed support, you were met with punishment, and there was a constant vilifying of people who needed help. I, Daniel Blake was based on that. It’s very much a film about the cruelty of the system that says: “Poverty is the fault o...

By Jem Bartholomew