Hang On A Minute...!

Posting on the Facebook group Feeding Your Family on a Budget, Chantelle Monger proudly showed off her huge food shop which will feed the kids for days.

The large haul contrasts starkly with the recent free school meals packages - said to be worth £30 for two weeks - which have come under fire for containing just a small amount of fruit and veg along with some beans, bread, pasta and cheese.

Why is the subtext 'The government scheme is obviously a rip off' when it should be 'So, why can't these whinging parents do the same, using their child benefit, rather than stick their hands even further in taxpayers' pockets'...?

H/T: lurkingspider via Twitter

"Take Two Wheels And Call Me In The Morning..."

The Bungler just keeps getting more and more incoherent.

They will be able to get free hire or borrow bikes from surgeries.

Assuming they can get into those surgeries in the first place, eh, Boris? And...'free' hire? Err, no. The taxpayer's paying. Again.

The PM has pinched the idea from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose £7.2billion cycling and walking plan unveiled at last year’s General Election included bikes on the NHS.

The fact that the most widely reviled Labour leader for a century thought it was a good idea is a sign it's not, you moron!

It is part of Mr Johnson’s new obesity strategy, which demands calorie counts on restaurant ­menus and alcohol sold in shops.

What happened to your opposition to 'sin taxes', Boris? Why should your brush with death mean we all have to suffer?

The Better Health campaign, aimed at 35million overweight Brits, will ban junk food ads ­before 9pm and target online ads.

Like a reformed smoker, he's determined to change everything...

Well, Yes. There's Always An 'Infinite Need' For Free Stuff....

“We’ve only really started this operation since the lockdown began. From the various conversations I’ve had with the people that we’re supplying there seems to be an infinite need for food.”

Gosh. Who could have predicted it?

“Originally when we started we wanted to just help the NHS and then from additional feedback from depos and different sources, we’re now looking to transition to a 70-30 split between people in need and the NHS. NHS workers need support and we are supporting them, but I think that people who were in need before are more prevalent in need now. I think a lot of people are looking after the NHS but there’s no one really making a band wagon for homeless people, refugees or children who were going to school without food before the Covid-19 crisis.”

Apart from the plethora of fakecharities that leech off the taxpayer to ostensibly 'resolve problems' for these groups, you mean?

Surely There's Another 401 Idiots In Brighton?

Women from Brighton’s Labour Party’s forum have started the campaign to help pupils from low income families who are unable to afford sanitary products.

According to charity Plan International UK, one in ten girls is unable to afford sanitary wear.

Thanks to Tim Worstall, we already know this is nonsense.

Mother-of-two Sam Whittaker, from Brighton, leads the campaign.

She said:“As a society we need to break the taboo that surrounds periods and recognise that sanitary wear is a necessity not a luxury.”

So why don't you lobby for them to be VAT-free? Like the government?

The petition, asking the council to implement a policy to distribute free sanitary products in schools, is published on the council’s website.

It requires 1,250 signatures in order for it to be debated by the council on July 19.

Oh dear. Even in Brighton, you can't get enough support....

Not The Story It First Appears To Be...

A house builder has claimed it cannot include affordable flats in an otherwise luxury complex despite promising to do so in return for planning approval.

Developer Crest Nicholson South has made an offer of £1.2 million for Brighton and Hove City Council to build cheaper housing elsewhere after claiming it cannot create them as part of a new development in Hove.

But councillors have condemned the move which they say will divide communities and create ghettoisation with less affluent residents all housed away from the richer people.

Booo! Eeeeeevil, greedy developers!

Wait....

...the housebuilder contacted the council in August to say its chosen registered social landlord (RSL) Affinity Sutton had pulled out of the agreement and it could not reach an agreement with under bidder Hyde Housing.

Five other providers also turned down the chance with the Government’s decision to reduce social rents by one per cent for the next four years cited as a reason.

Heh! Seems business isn't going to stump up the cash for the government's barmy ideas.

Planning officers said they could not answer Labour councillor Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s question over why the city council could not step in and take on the management itself and that clarification was needed from housing officers.

Because then, I guess, they'd have to mix with those social tenants, rather than avoid them, let someone else have all the hassle, and boast about how well they've done in glossy council brochures...

No, You Are Just Asking For Free Energy...

Mr Rogerson, who bought his Leaf just under a year ago because of the financial savings possible, said: “It is quite frustrating, really, because they want people to use electric vehicles but then don’t give you any help for it. We are not asking for the world.”

TANSTAAFL, Mr Rogerson.

So you won't be driving your SmugCar at the Bradford taxpayer's expense, any more...

Would You Like Another Big Helping Of Consequences?

Caffe Nero will no longer provide its staff with a free lunch while on shift following the introduction of the new National Living Wage.

 Well, that's a turn up for the books! Gosh. Who could have predicted this?

The company said the change in wages, which came into force on 1 April, will have a “significant financial impact of the business” and they are therefore looking into new ways to cut down on costs.

 *munches popcorn*

Oh. Sorry. That was a bit insensitive...

...staff told BBC Newsbeat their food choices were now being restricted.

No they aren't. You can eat whatever you want. It's just that now, you have to pay for it.

One claimed: "Before the National Living Wage increase we were allowed to order whatever we wanted off the menu.

"Now we're only allowed to order a plain margherita or a plain cheese and tomato pasta. Any additional toppings we have to pay for at cost price.

"The staff don't seem to be very happy about it as it was one of the benefits of working there."

But other people thought that they knew best. They thought that the benefit of working there should be a 'living wage'. They thought that companies - which exist to make a profit, after all - would swallow the cost.

They were wrong. As anyone with half a brain could have told them.

It’s Because You ‘Can’t Say No’, You Idiot…

…that there’s such a demand in the first place!

Government policies such as the welfare cap and benefit sanctions were to blame for the increased demand, Ms Koroma claimed, with up to 90 families a week now being referred to her.

She believed further cuts scheduled for next April would only make the situation worse.

She said: “We’re not getting any help. The numbers are getting higher, and they are just going to get even higher.

“Some clients we will see twice a week because of benefit sanctions. If they have kids, we can’t say no.

“When I first started this, there was only me. Now there are more than five food banks in Croydon.”

Gosh! I wonder why they've expanded..?

Fatima Koroma said a guaranteed source of funding was the only way to ensure the survival of the Croydon Food Store, after the number of referrals to the service doubled since its opening in 2012.

She said: “To satisfactorily maintain this while looking for other forms of funding, we need a minimum of £20,000 a year.

“Some of us get up at 6am to be at the supermarkets first thing. These are sometimes people with children. It’s a continuous chase for food.”

A clue as to just why food banks are so ‘necessary’ might just be found in the ‘Croydon Guardian’s’ rival paper:

Alisa Flemming, cabinet member for children, families and learning, told the meeting a single benefit payment was a "nice idea " but many people in Croydon lacked the "skills and capability" to make sure their "bills are paid and their children are fed".

She said the increasing numbers of families presenting themselves as homeless to the council was proof that people were not spending their money in the "right way", implying that they could not be trusted to spend a lump sum responsibly, particularly given the proliferation of bookmakers in the town.

Heh!

H/T: @fascistCOW via Twitter

Blimey, The First Day At School’s Tough Enough…

…without having Jay Rayner and Nick Clegg at lunch:

When politicians need to visit an educational establishment they cross the river to Lambeth. Clegg was last here for Christmas lunch. I ask him if he’s getting his usual table, and he grins. “The food’s good here,” he says, perkily.

I'd imagine he says everything perkily. He's just that sort of chap..

According to government figures 98% of the nearly 16,000 primary schools in England were able to offer a hot meal. Those having to make do for now with packed lunches for lack of kitchen facilities were in the low hundreds.

“I’m thrilled to bits that something all these naysayers said couldn’t and shouldn’t happen, has happened,” Clegg says.

Allow me to translate: "IN YOUR FACE, RIGHT-WINGERS!"

There’s a choice of noodles, lentil bake or lamb sausages with peas and gravy and mash that’s the reassuringly familiar shape of an ice-cream scoop. We both choose the latter.

Yummy!

… critics saw a benefit worth more than £400 per child as wasteful when many parents could afford to pay for it.

“Look, we as a society have already made choices about certain things being available as a universal benefit, be it the NHS or education itself.” What matters, he says, is that the children living in poverty benefit from it.

“You don’t want children at a tender age being separated out between those who can pay and those who can’t. There is a value in everybody feeling the same.”

Ah, the raising of feelings to the status of reality, again...

“What lies behind the criticism of free school food is this belief that worrying about food is a distraction from real education issues, that somehow it doesn’t count. There’s a sneering disregard for food, that it’s not serious.” And that’s not so?

“No,” he says. He has cleared his plate, leaving only a puddle of gravy and has moved on to the fresh fruit.

“They’re wrong. They’re flatly wrong. It’s a turning of the page that as a country we’re much more comfortable talking about the importance of food.”

This is a country that doesn't do that? I'm pretty sure the 50% of tv that isn't superhero shows or property shows or gameshows is cookery stuff, Cleggy-boy. You can't really escape it.

The subject does, however, lead him on to a point of principle: that school meals for infants and the pupil premium are examples of policies targeted at the earliest years of life.

“The state is intervening intelligently at a point in a child’s life when it makes a difference. Feeding children properly early on at school means in the long term you have better educated children,” he says.

“That means lower crime, better health and benefits for society all round. I think people will look back and ask how we managed when hot healthy meals were not available to little children at school.”

You really believe that?

There’s Another Message, Frank…

..and that’s that you shouldn’t have children you can’t afford:

More than 1.5 million poor children over the age of eight lose out on free school meals because their parents are in work, a leading anti-poverty campaigner reveals today.

They ain’t free. We, the taxpayer, are paying for them. Money spent on this is not available for something else.

Labour MP Frank Field told The Independent that research by his office had uncovered that parents in receipt of working tax credits no longer qualify for free school meals, even if their income is below the eligibility threshold of £16,190 a year.

Which is a given, when you set up a maze of requirements and eligibility criteria for handing someone money back.

Why not simply not tax them so much (or at all) in the first place?

“One and a half million poor children are being punished by the system because their parents are working for their poverty,” said Mr Field.

“As well as trying to cover their rent and utilities, these families are told that they must somehow find huge sums in their budget to make sure their children get a decent meal at lunchtime.

“The clear message given to poor parents is that it doesn’t pay to work – the total opposite to government rhetoric.”

Actually, the message it should be sending is: ‘You breed ‘em, you’ll have to feed ‘em..’

For all families.

Want Some Kids? Well, Have ‘em! Other People Will Feed Them For You…

Inspired by the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, charity Urban Outreach is so concerned about children going hungry during the long summer break that it is mobilising an army of volunteers to make and distribute 1,000 picnic lunches around the borough every weekday.

Words fail me…

The project, named BL14 Lunch, has been put together in just a few weeks as a response to concerns about what happens to the 9,000 children in Bolton who are eligible for free school meals once they are on holiday.

I wonder where this charity is getting its money from? Well, as you might have guessed, it’s mostly from the taxpayer:

”Our funding comes from a variety of sources including Bolton Council, Department of Health, Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Service, charitable trusts, local churches, schools and individual supporters.”

The percentage of individual supporters being, I’d imagine, slight…

Children will be able to walk in and request a meal. No proof of entitlement to free school meals will be needed.

Well, this is a car-crash about to happen, then, isn’t it?

Nick Clegg, Ideas Man…

Louise Tickle gets the task of monitoring the progress of the ‘free’ school lunch idea at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol for the ‘Guardian’:

"I used to have school meals but now I don't because the prices got higher," says five-year-old Jemima, cramming the last bit of KitKat from her packed lunch into her mouth with a happy grin.

…

School dinners here have just gone up to £2.25, so it's hardly surprising that some parents look at a bill of almost £50 a month and conclude that they can make a packed lunch for less.

Well, quite! With BOGOF offers, who couldn’t? Whether they’d fall foul of schools healthy eating policies is another matter, of course…

Come September, though, if the universal free school meals policy is realised, Jemima's family won't have to pay.

No indeed! I will! And you. In fact, all those taxpayers who don’t have children will be paying to feed the little….darlings.

*grinds teeth*

But right now, it's hard to see how headteacher Emma Payne is going to turn Nick Clegg's policy – announced at the Liberal Democrat party conference – into a reality.

Because, as we’ve seen before, there’s a problem with the logistics.

Headteachers received their first letter on the subject from the education secretary, Michael Gove, and the schools minister, David Laws, last month informing them they are obliged to implement the policy by September. So far, there have been no offers of any help or advice about how to get the job done.

Well, isn’t that why they pay them the big bucks? To resolve issues?

Payne starts to explain the problems she's facing, but has barely described the catchment – "very mixed, lots of cultures, some families in one of the 10% most deprived wards in the UK" – when she suddenly has to leap up: a referral to social services needs her urgent input.

The problems are the usual – not enough room to accommodate everyone:

The school has 426 children. The dining hall isn't big. Fifteen folded dining tables are placed against a wall. It's the middle of assembly: one class isn't here, and even with pupils sitting on the floor the room is nearly full.

Can they expand? Well, it’ll be difficult…

We poke our heads into the kitchen. A year ago, the contract catering company asked for what was then a facility for keeping pre-cooked dinners warm to be converted so that meals could be cooked on site. It's small: about six metres by four (20ft by 13ft). A chef and two assistants bustle about. Any more people working in here would be a squash. There's nowhere inside to extend this kitchen. The only option is to knock through the outside wall. We go outside. Half of the small area that could be built on is taken up by a shed. Curious, I open a door, to find lots of catering equipment, cutlery and serving dishes.

"We were asked to put it up because there was no room for everything in the kitchen," Swift explains.

In fact, it’s worse than you think:

Wondering what scale of increase the kitchen would need to deliver the universal free school meals, we ask the office for a snapshot of the numbers. "Today there are 53 children in reception and key stage 1 having a school dinner," says the administration expert. If universal free meals were in operation today, 173 children at this school would be eligible. In TV chef-speak, that's another 120 "plates" to be prepped, cooked and dished up. Extra supervising staff will be needed too.

"Little ones will need some of their lunch cutting up."

Add to this headache, school funding concerns:

"Actually," she says, "my immediate thought was about pupil premium funding." I'm puzzled, so Payne explains. St Mary Redcliffe has 22% of pupils taking free school meals.

"That's 124 children whose parents have claimed – though I know another 94 children are entitled." Pupil premium money, so vital to schools like this, is calculated per pupil claiming free school meals.

"As yet, I'm unclear about how universal free school meals will impact upon pupil premium funding," she says.

I’d be feeling sorry for them right now, if it weren’t for the fact that they are probably the people that voted Clegg into office:

In an ideal world, with all the practical challenges met, does Payne believe that offering free school meals to all children is a good thing?

"Yes," she says immediately. "It's a nutritious meal, and it's appropriate portion-sizing for children. It's fresh. And it's produced from scratch on the premises."

And it’s not for me (or you) to provide it. It’s for their parents.

So, does she have a plan? "No, I don't know what to do," she admits. "There is no simple solution, and complex solutions take time.

And," she adds dryly, recalling the urgent support required by one child's family earlier this morning, "we're quite busy at the moment, really."

Will she still vote for Clegg? Probably…

Well, No. What It Actually Highlights...

...is that if people can get their hands on 'free' stuff, they will:

Tim Nichols, a spokesman for the Child Poverty Action Group, said the fund highlighted inequality throughout the UK.

"It's shocking that a fund set up nearly 100 years ago to help the poorest children with such basic essentials as shoes and a warm coat is in growing demand today," he said.

See also...

TANSTAAFV*

All under-fives could get free vitamins under plans being considered by the government — but Bolton health chiefs are one step ahead in the fight to tackle the rise of rickets.

Yes. Rickets. Really!

The number of people being treated for rickets has doubled in the town over the past two years, according to figures released in April.

A lack of exposure to sunlight is being blamed for the resurgence of the disease, which was virtually wiped out in the Western world in the 1940s.

Now, England's chief medical officer — Professor Dame Sally Davies — has asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review whether all children should receive drops or tablets containing vitamins A, C and D.

Yes, because, of course, giving all children vitamins is clearly the done thing to do. We can’t single out those who might actually need them, because...

…

Well, why not?

A council spokesman said: “We are committed to giving every child in Bolton the best start in life and are always looking at ways we can improve everyone’s health.

“The Healthy Start programme offers families on low incomes the opportunity to benefit from free milk, fresh or frozen fruit and veg, and vitamins, including vitamin D.

“In Bolton we are enhancing this programme by offering the Healthy Start vitamins free to families with young children who might not qualify for the Healthy Start programme but who are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

“We are also working with local pharmacies to promote the benefits of taking vitamin D supplements during winter, particularly for those groups of people who might be at risk.”

Without, of course, drawing any attention to those who ‘might be at risk’…

*There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Vitamin

TANSTAAFL, Barking & Dagenham Council...

The council is trying out a new strategy to tackle child obesity by offering all pupils in year eight free use of leisure facilities in Barking and Dagenham.

'Free'..? Or are the ratepayers stumping up, again?

The pilot scheme launches on October 28 - the beginning of October half-term - and will run until March 31.

All children aged 12 and 13 living in the borough will get to use leisure activities such as swimming, Junior Gym sessions and others delivered by the community sports team.

They can also have free access to both the borough’s leisure centres at Abbey Sports Centre in Barking and Becontree Heath Leisre (sic) Centre in Dagenham.

So, the council normally provides these facilities for a fee, but is waiving it. Hmmm. I bet the heating and lighting will stay on, and the workers aren't providing their services for free.

So someone's making up the shortfall, aren't they?

Council leader Liam Smith commented: “This project is a great example of the work the council is delivering, not only to increase active participation in sport but also help address wider health issues.”

No. No, it's not. The 'work the council should be delivering' is taking away the rubbish and keeping the parks cleaned and the roads maintained.

Not jumping on the 'obesity crisis' bandwagon.

Maybe The Government Is Getting Something Right After All..?

Seen as one of the country's leading civil rights chambers and led by Michael Mansfield, Tooks worked with the Lawrences on an inquiry into Stephen's 1993 death.

…

In a statement the firm said: "The dissolution of chambers is the direct result of government policies on Legal Aid.

"The public service we provide is dependent on public funding. Ninety per cent of our work is publicly funded. The government policies led by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling are cumulatively devastating the provision of legal services and threatening the rule of law."

Oh, dear. No more free lunch on the taxpayer while you work to destroy our justice system…

I knew it was worth keeping this graphic around...

Oh, The Humanity!

Pupils from two Brentwood primary schools will return from their summer holidays to cold school lunches.

Not, as you might expect from the hysterical wailing, bread and water, though...

Ann Cardus, whose two children attend St Thomas's, is worried about this development.

She said: "Hot dinners are a key part of a child's day and it is an important option to have available, especially for those on free school meals.

"My children are fortunate in that they aren't in the free school meals bracket, but for those who are, the hot dinner can often be the only good meal they get."

That's a deeper problem than the school can hope to solve, I think you'll find...

The 45-year-old, of Highlands Avenue, stressed that it was not extra work for herself that is bothering her.

She said: "My eight-year-old son will not be able to get a hot meal during the day, and yes, this will mean extra work for me, but the real concern is for the children's wellbeing."

Of course it is...

Hey, We’d All Like A ‘Free Lunch’, Wouldn’t We?

Tens of thousands of children living below the poverty line in some of the wealthiest parts of England's home counties may be unable to afford a proper lunch but fail to qualify for free school meals, according to a study…

Not the qualification there. Now who is prone to such obfuscation?

…by the Children's Society.

Well, of course!

The Children's Society wants free school meals for to be extended to all families receiving universal credit from October. This – at an estimated cost of £500m a year in England – would lift 100,000 children out of poverty and enable the government to keep child poverty targets on track.

Yes, I'm sure they do. That would, of course, add to their population of 'farmed' children and consolidate their power in government, wouldn't it? Never mind that that 'free' lunch has to be paid for by someone.

Matthew Reed, the charity's chief executive, said: "It is shocking that huge numbers of children in poverty across the country are missing out on a free school meal. Every child in poverty should be entitled to this vital support."

Translation: "Every child we can add to our roll is another example of how we are 'needed'!"

Linda Cregan, chief executive of the Children's Food Trust, supported the call for free school meal entitlement to be extended to all families receiving universal credits. She said: "Evidence shows that when children eat better, they do better in class. Poor diet and hunger have a marked detrimental impact on a child's ability to reach their full potential.

"Every pupil should be given the same chance to learn and achieve, and that's why it's so important that all children from families who receive universal credits should automatically qualify for free school meals.

Well, that takes care of the after lunch portion of the school day. What next? Free breakfasts too, to ensure they aren't 'disadvantaged' in the before-lunch period?

If granted, the next step would be to support schools in making sure these families register for them and take them."

Whether they like it or not?