Free school lunches scrapped as children pay price for causing recession

Hoppinggreen ... thank you.

Re means testing, do we know if schools already means test every parent, or would this mean the time consuming, costly red tape, and every parent sending in a single/joint P60 into the school every year?

The satire is irrelevant, as this is actually being discussed widely at the minute.

I am confused OP. How is removing school meals for all children, but keeping the means testing meaning that the children in poverty are losing out?

I live in NI. We never had universal school meals. We do have FSM for households with an income under £16190. That income doesn't take into account tax credits, child benefit or housing benefit. A couple with two children on one wage of £13k would have a take home income per year of over £20k once all the benefits are taken into account. That family would also be eligible for FSM. I cannot see how that income is seen as poverty.

Single parents on income support, or part time wages will also be eligible for FSM.

I am not sure why we would be arguing to keep FSM for children of parents on decent incomes. It should only go to those who need it.

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

"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.

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

What else would you like to be considered for cuts

MP pay and expenses

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.

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

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.

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.

crossed post completely agree really tired

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.

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.

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