Labour MP David Lammy has been appointed as the latest “ambassador” of The Big Issue to help promote and develop the magazine and its work.

As MP for Tottenham, and shadow justice secretary, Mr Lammy is a prominent voice for social justice, who has campaigned against evictions during the pandemic, as well as for measures to prevent a new homelessness crisis.

He said homelessness was a growing problem, and revealed that his father was homeless for periods of his life.

“For those reasons, as a prominent voice here in the capital city, I’m very pleased to attach my name to The Big Issue, which is a publication I’ve written in and bought over many years, and to do what I can to raise these issues.

“There are real issues around bailiffs, and bailiffs chasing people as we head out of this recession, and unless the Government is there with sustained support, not just in the heat of the coronavirus crisis, but beyond it, we will see evictions.

“We know that a pandemic comes along once every 100 years and throws the world into a degree of chaos, but we also know that 10, 15 years down the line, we’ll still be here.

“Economies do bounce back. And as the IMF has said, the important thing is to use the power of the state to throw a net around people so they don’t sink.”

Lord John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, said: “It’s a privilege to have David onboard as an official Big Issue ambassador, using his platform to support our vendors and join us in calling for urgent measures to prevent mass homelessness caused by Covid-19 poverty.”

The Big Issue has set up a jobs and training initiative to help with training and job searching.

People are being urged to subscribe to the magazine as vendors are not able to sell it on the streets because of the national lockdown.