Tories going to axe free school meals

[cannotbelievethistoday]

So I have 2 children in private school.

Labour want to put VAT on private school fees, and extend free school meals to all primary children.

Tories are going to remove infant free school meals.

Bloody hell. And still people will vote Tory.

(My 2 kids are in private school - I totally agree with labour on this one)

The not being able to sit still or stand in a line does though.

Not talking about the children who would struggle regardless.

But this was un heard of when I went to school we sat fir far longer periods. We stood in a line. From day one. The odd parent helper but not tas..and i was in a class of 36 by the last yr

Now so unexpected is it kids need spinners just to do it...

Bad parenting needs holding accountable without blanket polices taking responsibility every time something becomes an issue.

I'm with Keira. It's not just about helping those on low incomes and de-stigmatising them. It's about ensuring each child gets a nutritionally appropriate and varied diet. Which is much easier to do with a school lunch than with packed lunches.

Why should everyone pay for children's lunches? No one is paying for mine. That's the parent's responsibility. The money wouold be much better spent on actual education in schools.

Don't have kids if you can't be arsed to feed them- that's the most basic common sense. Free meals for poor children will still be around.

Let's see what the claims are on education and health spending when it comes out - nothing much to dislike here though in my opinion. Cutting money from people that need it is a different matter but this isn't that.

I didn't want them in the first place!!
Our school is reasonably affluent so very few people actually wanted fsm and the few that needed them already got them.
Quality definitely dropped as well once it was brought in

OP I agree with you. If it was a choice between voting tory and knowing infant FSM would be axed, or voting labour knowing all kids would get FSM's how could anyone vote conservatives. Reminds me of the Harry Enfield sketch of Tim nice but Dim going canvassing. They really are all something with a little C.

They take from the sick. They take from the old. And now they target hungry children.

dramatic much..?

They're not targeting 'hungry children.'

Free school meals don't ensure that children get a varied diet though. There are plenty of children that don't get that variety at home so their parents just order them jacket potatoes Monday-Thursday and fish and chips on a Friday.

While I know that the puddings are balanced nutritionally and usually contain fruit or veg of some kind, it really isn't good for children to learn to expect pudding after every lunch like they get with school meals.

I too agree that free school meals for all has to go. Why pay for meals for children whose parents can afford it and not be able to afford other services?

I don't think school meals are badly priced at all in primary - I now have 1 in secondary and one yr 6 so prices might have gone up since mine were infant age but they were priced at £2 a day and they got 2 courses. Packed lunches can also be made even cheaper imo.

And as for winter fuel allowance again I think why we giving rich older people money to sit in their bank accounts and then say we cannot afford to pay for other services? I definitely think these things should be means tested so nobody goes cold or hungry but I do not really want to be paying money to people who can afford to pay for these things themselves.

I think, given that all the kitchens have been put in place to provide meals to all the infant's and the expensive financial outlay to make that happen, it's a shame to lose the free meals for infants. It's not as though parents are forced to make their children eat the free school meals, packed lunches can be provided if you object for any reason.

We are quite comfortable, not privately schooling three kids comfortable, but I'd rather have means tested top-up contributions for state schools, than have kids go without lunch.

You lot do realise that the threshold for FSM is about 16k income?

I'm sure lots could, but not everyone could afford the vat increase - those people that might struggle could end up choosing state education and then the government would end up paying for their education instead of making money. So they might not make as much money as they think from it.

Free school meals for all is just plain daft. Let those who can afford to pay, pay. Then the money saved could go to something to do with education which is what schools are for.

Really pleased. What a sensible idea.
We don't need anyone to pay for lunches. I had fsm as a child and I can't remember any stigma.
Use the money for something else.

Yes. They're providing breakfast instead. There is a problem with children not having breakfast in a way there never was with lunches. In fact, given most poor parents would never dare send their children without lunch the way they do without breakfast it will probably mean their children are ensued two meals a day instead of one.

They never target Mr Bankerman , Mr Offshore, Mr Playboy. Never.

Just Mrs Pensioner, Timmy Hungry, Darla Disabled.

It would be one thing if it worked. But it doesn't. Tory Debt grows and grows.

A spite-filled manifesto.

And btw I think free breakfasts is an utterly ridiculous idea. It will mean that most children have 2 breakfasts, at a time we are worried about childhood obesity. Or if you have an infant and an older child do you refuse to give the younger breakfast at home, feed the younger one and send them to school hungry. Breakfast is before school and the responsibility of the parents. It would be a total pita for most people.

Feed the older one I mean

makeourfuture are you always so melodramatic and exaggerate so much? You are repeating the same soundbite lines over and over.

I would agree with removing the universal free school meals, it hasn't been proven to help children in any significant way..

Except it has: www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6278

www.ft.com/content/52857c38-1d2c-11e7-b7d3-163f5a7f229c

"The researchers found that there was a bigger impact on students who did not qualify for free school meals

They have speculated that this could be because of “marginal” cases — families who are poor but who do not qualify for free lunches — or because these students benefit more from changed behaviour overall in the classroom."

Pay for your own kids meals. Don't see why I should have to. Schools are to educate, not provide meals. Put the money saved into education.

People on low income DO benefit from FSM

I think the same increasingly

I really wish we could get back to the simplicity of arranging breakfast and lunch for your own children, with a free lunch available to those on certain benefits.

Pahahaha at the idea that parents are so dim they'll give their children two breakfasts because they won't realise they don't need one at home. That really is the worst of the left, assuming people are that thick. Or that secondary age children won't be able to make themselves toast and cereal if their parents aren't doing it for the infants.

I couldn't afford private fees but I don't see why parents who send their child to a private school should pay VAT on top of the fees. If anything it will send more children into the state system and create more pressure there. At the moment they are not taking advantage of a service they are entitled to so are actually saving the taxpayer money by not costing anything through schooling.