Tory MP quits government over refusal to extend free school meals

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Is this a cynical "dead cat" to distract the public from the Coronavirus handling and lack of success in the Brexit talks?

No. People can be equally angry at their handling of Coronavirus and this.

They had a chance to get some credit, only had to be a short term commitment.

I understand why reasons for not backing it, but they’re not strong enough. They could have won a brilliant PR coup by suspending the MP food allowance And putting that towards this.

I despair sometimes.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Pierre

No. People can be equally angry at their handling of Coronavirus and this.

They had a chance to get some credit, only had to be a short term commitment.

I understand why reasons for not backing it, but they’re not strong enough. They could have won a brilliant PR coup by suspending the MP food allowance And putting that towards this.

I despair sometimes.

Given that Marcus Rashford was awarded an MBE, you would think that the government would have the issue on their agenda.

They could have built on the goodwill generated by awarding the MBE by continuing with free school meals through the Civid crisis at little cost and considered making it permanent.

Put in the context of the Triple Lock of £1.5bn a year which is providing increases in pensions of two per cent more than inflation it's a bargain.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Given that Marcus Rashford was awarded an MBE, you would think that the government would have the issue on their agenda.

They could have built on the goodwill generated by awarding the MBE by continuing with free school meals through the Civid crisis at little cost and considered making it permanent.

Put in the context of the Triple Lock of £1.5bn a year which is providing increases in pensions of two per cent more than inflation it's a bargain.

Yes but pensioners have a vote, children don't.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Given that Marcus Rashford was awarded an MBE, you would think that the government would have the issue on their agenda.

They could have built on the goodwill generated by awarding the MBE by continuing with free school meals through the Civid crisis at little cost and considered making it permanent.

Put in the context of the Triple Lock of £1.5bn a year which is providing increases in pensions of two per cent more than inflation it's a bargain.

Tbf the mbe was a joke.

As if gongs needed devaluing there was a classic example.

The awards are truly broken and many recipients and their fans would do well to disregard their significance.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Meanwhile back in the HOC, taxpayers are subsidising MPs meals and they're getting a £3k pay rise. Sorted.

The meals will be subsidised because they are unable to seek out cheaper options. Several years ago I worked in the Westminster area, and we were given Luncheon Vouchers because the company didn't have a subsidised canteen. Nothing unusual about subsidised company canteens. Often the workforce has no choice because of the locality of the company, eg industrial estate.
The pay rise is NOT one they are awarding themselves, it's part of a system/formula to calculate them.

It is a totally bogus argument to ask for for those receiving free school meals because of covid. Those with free school meals are mostly going to be parents completely on benefits, whose income will be unaffected.
Here's an example of the bogus arguments.
School meals: 'I remember going to bed with hunger pains'
Now let's pick apart the nonsense.

"I was brought up in a household where we didn't have food at home," Danielle recalls.
Her mother was ill, and couldn't work. A single-parent household, Danielle says she and her two siblings were often left to "fend for themselves", in addition to caring for their mum.
"Some days it was hard for her to get out of bed. She really put in a lot of effort but she couldn't cope. I don't hold it against her because she tried," Danielle stresses.

Single-parent, left to "fend for themselves". parent not doing shopping. So was money the actual issue?

At the weekend, meals would frequently consist of dry cereal and dry bread.

Overall Schools meals had NOTHING to do with it.
Would small village primary schools of the time(30 years ago) have had school meals. Those living in villages would've had to spend the money on meals, instead of getting free school meals. Those of us in that situation could manage, if the parent(s) were bothered. Why the discrimination?

---------- Post added at 21:47 ---------- Previous post was at 21:35 ----------

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Given that Marcus Rashford was awarded an MBE, you would think that the government would have the issue on their agenda.

They could have built on the goodwill generated by awarding the MBE by continuing with free school meals through the Civid crisis at little cost and considered making it permanent.

Put in the context of the Triple Lock of £1.5bn a year which is providing increases in pensions of two per cent more than inflation it's a bargain.

It's quotas. The list is filled with people who are there just to fill the quotas.

Of the 1,495 recipients, 13% are from a BAME background and 6% have a disability. The list includes 740 women, which represents 49% of the total - down from 51% in the New Years Honours list last year.

How are those figures possible, when there is meant to be so much discrimination, that certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything?

These are unprecedented times and with people being supposedly furloughed but actually fired or only receiving partial income now is not the time to be nit-picking about feeding children during school holidays.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Maggy

These are unprecedented times and with people being supposedly furloughed but actually fired or only receiving partial income now is not the time to be nit-picking about feeding children during school holidays.

That is just the Trojan Horse of an excuse. In no way are any of the proposals targeted at those with a loss of income?
Not only did those already on benefits have an unaltered income, they will have received a council tax reduction of up to £150, and yet they are included.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by nomadking

It's quotas. The list is filled with people who are there just to fill the quotas.
How are those figures possible, when there is meant to be so much discrimination, that certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything?

I think I saw the white flag of surrender when you threw your strawman in there "certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything".

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I think I saw the white flag of surrender when you threw your strawman in there "certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything".

Isn't that what the people who constantly shout out about discrimination, are claiming? Isn't their mantra, that certain groups are prevented from fulfilling their full potential? Yes or No?
Either there is no discrimination as those groups are allowed to reach their full potential, or there are quotas and discrimination is used to award them. Which is it?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Isn't that what the people who constantly shout out about discrimination, are claiming? Isn't their mantra, that certain groups are prevented from fulfilling their full potential? Yes or No?
Either there is no discrimination as those groups are allowed to reach their full potential, or there are quotas and discrimination is used to award them. Which is it?

You said that certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything. Judging by Marcus Rashford's footballing success, this is not the case. If you genuinely feel this is not the case, then by all means open a new thread on the matter but I'm not going to assist further in conveniently taking this thread off topic.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

You said that certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything. Judging by Marcus Rashford's footballing success, this is not the case. If you genuinely feel this is not the case, then by all means open a new thread on the matter but I'm not going to assist further in conveniently taking this thread off topic.

when there is meant to be so much discrimination, that certain groups aren't allowed to achieve anything

You missed out the preceding phrase of "when is meant to be...", and that implies outside opinion, not my opinion.
The question was asked in this thread as to why did he get an MBE? He didn't get it for football. Perhaps my response would've been better placed responding to Julian's post.
I have a relative that was awarded an MBE for charitable services for children. The difference is that they did it for many years and without publicity, and not for "5 seconds" with a shedload of publicity.

[tweetiepooh]

Things would be much easier if not for fraud. Because of the fraudsters the system ends up costing more and the rules get more and more complex so many who need help miss out.

Then there is the "dignity" thing. When there were proposals that some benefit could be paid in vouchers - e.g. you can buy food/kid's clothes etc with them but not booze - there was big outcry that the system didn't trust recipients.

So while it is good to ensure that kid's aren't going hungry and maybe there does need to be some central support it does need to be focussed. And what about the others in the household? Those too young for school? Are the parents or other household members also going hungry? Maybe communities need (and often are) to play a bigger role, they often know the situations better than any bureaucrat and can be more responsive too. If you know someone is going hungry and can help, then help, don't simply complain that something needs to be done.

[peanut]

Yeah those pesky fraudsters with their iPhone 14s and their 96" TVs, smoking 80 fags a day... Same old, same old.....

[jfman]

Benefit fraud being a tiny fraction of the tax gap.

And a tiny fraction of a private sector failing test and trace apparatus apparently.

Originally Posted by jfman

Benefit fraud being a tiny fraction of the tax gap.

And a tiny fraction of a private sector failing test and trace apparatus apparently.