wellbeing at risk because employer hasn't paid me

hunterfi wrote: »

I have just started working for a new employer 2 weeks ago. I am currently a student on summer break and so relied heavily on this income to support myself in the absence of my student funding.
However my employer hasn't paid me when I should have been. Previous to starting, I had enough money to tie me over until payday for utilities, travel etc. Today I had to call in to say I could not afford to travel to work and therefore could not attend for my shift.
My line manager was aware of my situation as I spoke to her yesterday regarding the urgency in the matter. I am now in a position where my wellbeing is at risk due to having no financial means whatsoever to eat, pay for utilities, rent etc.
To give a little background on the situation. When I attended work on my third shift I was met with a manager at the entrance who summoned me to the office and walked me there with a very stern attitude and would not answer my question when I asked if something was wrong. There was another manager and a supervisor waiting in the office for me when I got there.(I could have walked to the office myself without the intimidation act)
I was told that they had a problem getting me on the system for payment as apparently I had worked for the company before and did not declare it. Initially, it appeared to me that they were investigating whether I had been dishonest about my employment status. The reason they had me on the system was that a full 8 YEARS previous i had applied for a job with the company, did 3 days training and because I was student nurse at the time working shifts the job was not going to work for me. I spoke to the person in charge at the time who said notice was not necessary and it was fine to terminate with immediate effect. I was never paid for the training days as I should have been and never chased it up. They then changed the reason to there being a glitch in the payment system from an old one to a new one. They explained there may be a delay in getting me paid. I gave them the truthful reason that I may be on the system and also explained that there was at no point in the application where it asked if I had worked for the company before. Throughout the process there was someone taking notes on everything that was said. I stopped at one point to ask if this was some kind of formal thing and that I did not want to proceed if I was being investigated for something. They assured me no.
Anyway, I have since spoken to my line manager who assured me there would be an arrangement made such as a cash advance or cheque. So far, nothing.
I am now in a position where my direct debits have not been paid and so I have incurred bank charges I would never have previously anticipated had I been paid, my phone and internet are currently unpaid will be closed in the next 5 days if not paid so I will have no means of communication and I had to call in today to say I would not be in.
Sorry for the long winded thread here but it seems there are a few issues within the way the bigger problem has been dealt with.
In short can anyone give e some advice on :
1) Where I stand in terms of losing wages due to not being able to attend work via fault on my employers side?
2) Being led into debt and my wellbeing compromised due to having no money via fault on my employers side?
3) The way in which this was addressed i.e.: note taking, manager escort etc in spite of being reassured I did not need to take any legal advice even though on several occasions they called it an "investigation into the circumstance in which I left the company"?
4) Regardless of how I left (even though I gave them the truth) surely I should still be paid for the hours I've worked?

On a side note out of curiosity. Should they really still have my details including bank details after 8 years?

Thanks for any feedback and the time to read my longwinded post.