Free school lunches scrapped as children pay price for causing recession

[blacksunday]

BRITAIN’S infants will finally be made to pay for causing the financial crash of 2008.

Free school lunches are expected to be scrapped later this year as chancellor George Osborne punishes children for engineering the credit crunch by trading in high-risk, sub-prime mortgages.

He said: “By removing their free mash potato and lukewarm peas we send a strong message that free markets only succeed when managed responsibly.

“These children threatened the livelihoods of thousands of innocent merchant bankers who just want to be happy.”

Six year-old Tom Booker admitted: “The party’s over. In retrospect, it was wrong of me to claim free lunches at the taxpayers’ expense while running a Dubai-based hedge fund.

“Luckily, I’ve accumulated about £8 million in emerging market tech stocks so I should be able to afford a sad little hotdog and a box of Ribena.”

www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/free-school-lunches-scrapped-as-children-pay-price-for-causing-recession-20150921102109

[Isitmebut]

As usual, complete and utter left wing b-o-l-l-o-k-s.

Government Spending Reviews if worthy the name, should both start with everything on the table and look at inefficiencies/savings.

Maybe if the recessionary,falling real earnings, economically unblanace UK, pre May 2010, would have responsibly HAD the well overdue Spending Round and began 'cutting out cloth' instead of putting up taxes to sustain the unsustainable - we might have have grown our economy far quicker.

The fact is, in most government departments not everything CAN go 'on the table', so say only 5% to 20% of that total annual budget can be cut/changed.

So the enhanced free school meals that I believe includes breakfast, which was a Clegg Lib Dem flagship policy within the coalition that began in May 2010, NOT A LABOUR ONE who were concentrating more on de regulating our banks prior to the late 2007 financial crash.

So school meals as not part of the fixed costs WILL be 'on the table' with other 'stuff'.

But if memory serves either in the 2015 Conservative manifesto of promises made during the general election, they said that they would PROTECT school meals.

In conclusion; IF repeat IF the Conservative government after the Spending Review DOES cut school dinners funding in any form they promised to keep, they deserve every bit of outrage thrown at them, from myself included.

Meanwhile those who rely on school dinners to ensure children get at least one healthy meal a day really don't need your ideologically sick and pig ignorant scare stories. IMO

[sliceofsoup]

What a load of shit OP.

I despise DC and GO as much as the next person. I think its a disgrace that MPs got a pay rise, and continue to receive expenses and subsidised food and drink, but taking away free school meals for all is not punishing infants for the recession. Bollocks like that does not help the left at all.

I am interested to know if they intend to bring back the means tested free school meals for the families on the lowest incomes. Does anyone know?

[ReallyTired]

At the moment the daughter or son of billionaire is entitled to free school meals while they are infants. The cut off for free school meals is far too low for older children. Believe it or not children don't stop bring hungry when they hit secondary. Maybe the threshold for free school meals should be raised so all that investment in infrastructure does not go to waste. (Of course secondary school would have to drastically update their Infrastructure to cope.)

[2madboys]

Er - you do know that Daily Mash is a spoof site?!

[tribpot]

I think posters must have only read the first few lines of the OP and not realised that the satire was more obvious towards the end of it:

Six year-old Tom Booker admitted: “The party’s over. In retrospect, it was wrong of me to claim free lunches at the taxpayers’ expense while running a Dubai-based hedge fund.

Very amusing article, with a serious point.

[starlight2007]

To be honest I never agreed with free school meals for all..I personally think the thing that needs to happen is FSM for people on a low income not only those on benefits.

I can personally afford to pay for school dinners I would support those who can't to have a dinner and it would support the it pays to work as well.

[starlight2007]

crossed post completely agree really tired

[blacksunday]

slice-

Nearly 1 in 3 children in the UK lives in poverty.

Seeing as free school meals are often the only nutritious meals that millions of children get every day, what is your argument that free school means are not money well spent?

You're suggesting meals should be means tested, even with this staggeringly large amount of poverty?

Even when the cost of these measures - which will ensure children are able to study at school and help them remain healthy, thus drastically lowering costs in the long run to the economy due to having educated healthy adults - amount to just over a half billion pounds, out of a budget of £672 Billion pounds?

I'm sorry, but I fail to see the justification for repeatedly making the poorest and most vulnerable pay for the financial crisis caused by gambling Capitalists.

[ReallyTired]

The daily mash is funny, however universal free school meals an issue.

Here is a more serious article.

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/free-school-meals-for-infants-set-to-be-scrapped-under-osbornes-spending-review-10509664.html

With so many cuts I think it's understandable that universal free school meals are looked at. What else would you like to be considered for cuts. Pupil to teacher ratio? Budgets for Sen kids. We have to look what is nice to have and what us essential.

[Scarydinosaurs]

Did people not read that it was daily mash? Baffled by the first comments.

If 1/3 is in poverty then 1/3 needs to be free. In a cashless system there is no need for other children to know who has the FSM to remove the stigma.

However, it is typical that after schools have huge costs in equipping themselves with kitchens to be able to provide the meals, it then all gets pulled.

[starlight2007]

I read it was the daily mash.. however it has been stated in many other papers free school meals are likely to be removed in spending review November

[Isitmebut]

Black Sunday ... Apart from the fact that the American Sub Prime crisis, lending to the poorest American's in society via financing methods that has existed since the 1930's has had NOTHING to Labour's handing or our banks or massively increased government spending FINANCED by a financial bubble that burst - should you not wait for ANY announcement by the government before getting your ignorant gasted, all blabbered?

Quite how much it would cost to MEANS TEST every child before feeding them, I believe the POINT of not means testing is that every child is treated the same - with no different treatment/poor queues etc.

[blacksunday]

Well, we could get rid of the House of Lords subsidies, the Monarchy, Trident, corporate subsidies, and then claim the tens of billions of pounds in tax evaded or avoided by multinationals in the UK.

[starlight2007]

What else would you like to be considered for cuts

MP pay and expenses

[Hoppinggreen]

Bringing them in was a shit idea anyway, pushed through by Nick clogged as a supposed " vote winner" so I don't have any problem with them being withdrawn.
The left wing will love it though as it will give them " Tories starve school children" type headlines. It wasn't an issue before they were free

[blacksunday]

The left wing will love it though as it will give them " Tories starve school children" type headlines. It wasn't an issue before they were free

Um, yes it was. Did you miss the part about 1/3rd of children living in poverty?

[blacksunday]

Hopping-

The left wing will love it though as it will give them " Tories starve school children" type headlines. It wasn't an issue before they were free

Also, you realise this policy was set up under the coalition, and nobody is forcing the Tories to cut school meals for children.

It's hardly and sort of 'trap'. If the Tories don't want to deprive poor school kids of meals, they could simply not scrap the policy.

[Isitmebut]

"Did you miss the part about 1/3rd of children living in poverty?"

What (joint) income level in the UK is the cut off point for a child living in poverty, £23k, what is it now, and is it family means tested i.e. how much a family spends on alcohol, tobacco, technology, expensive but bad nutritional fast foods, SKY/BT TV packages etc?

Knicker bunching aside, no policy to deprive poor school children of meals HAS been announced.

[ReallyTired]

It might make more sense to raise the free school dinner threshold to 23K and not give free school meals to the rich.

[blacksunday]

ReallyTired-

Firstly, the rich tend to put their children in private schools.

Secondly, 25K is below the second poorest decile for a family with two children:

www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/25/uk-incomes-how-salary-compare

[Isitmebut]

In the interests of facts over fiction - and I can't be arsed to look it up - the blanket coalition free meals, is this just some form of breakfast to start the day, or does it include free lunches/dinners?

[TheFairyCaravan]

I loathe the Tories but this was a ridiculous idea in the first place.

[Hoppinggreen]

There must be a better way to help the 1/3 of children in poverty than to give free meals to the other 2/3 as well who don't need them.

[Hoppinggreen]

isitme it's free lunch for all children in Reception up until year 2, so 3 years worth.
Even for children with wealthy parents

[Isitmebut]

I luv the Tories, but was very sceptical about the Lib Dems, but in a society that appears to want the schools to take over basic parenting duties i.e. toilet training and ensuring at least ONE decent meal a day, it was a good idea as a breakfast does set a 'human bean' up for the day.