I DON'T know how many people stay up at night to watch television after 10.30pm, but there was one programme last Tuesday night at 10.35pm that everyone in the country should have seen.

It was on BBC1 and called 'Poor Kids'. It stated that there are 3.5 million children in this country, living in poverty, and followed the lives of about six kids, aged eleven and under, all from the north of England and Scotland.

Their houses were not fit to live in and the children told their stories, sitting on the kerb outside, of how little they had to eat. As one said, 'If we put the heating on to dry our clothes, there is not enough money to buy food.' It was like watching something from a Charles Dickens novel.

The point I'm trying to make is, how on earth is this kind of thing still being allowed to go on in 2011? Why are we still sending millions of pounds to countries like China and India when the Government can't even look after small children at home? Isn't it time our politicians put their hands up and admit they must try harder?

Sometimes, charity must start at home . . .

David Luckhurst

Crocken Tor Road

Okehampton