'Panic Saturday' highlights the shameful inequality of our nation

Today has been dubbed "Panic Saturday", a day when Britons are expected to spend £1.2bn buying Christmas gifts.

However, while this consumerist extravaganza takes place, 13 million people in the country will live through the festive season in poverty.

This sobering inequality has seen Britain characterised as "two nations" divided. The Trussell Trust warned yesterday that it expects its busiest ever Christmas in terms of providing emergency rations - with one million people in the country also relying on food banks.