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Original poster

Tories going to axe free school meals

640 replies

cannotbelievethistoday · 18/05/2017 06:46

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)

OP posts:
Badbadbunny · 18/05/2017 08:41

I thought the universal free meals was an anti-obesity and health drive

Yeah, as if heating up frozen pizzas and pre-prepared ready meals full of sugar, salt, additives and preservatives would improve health and reduce obesity!!!! Grin

IF, and only if, the lunches provided were actually made daily from fresh ingredients would I be in favour of them.

I think science and society are finally waking up to the problems caused by the additives, preservatives, sugar and salt that are packed into pre-prepared foods to give them a longer shelf live. Yet, we seem to have chosen to continue feeding crap to our kids, and the fact that the govt/schools are paying for that is crazy!

emancipationoffifi · 18/05/2017 08:43

OP why do you send your children to private school if you're such a champion of the people?

makeourfuture · 18/05/2017 08:46

'Hungry children'......... Grin

Who finds hungry children funny?

Is that a Tory joke? Because I'm not getting it.

MacarenaFerreiro · 18/05/2017 08:47

The smiley face is because the hand-wringing about "hungry children" is blinkered hyperbole.

makeourfuture · 18/05/2017 08:53

hand-wringing about "hungry children"

Worrying about childhood hunger is "hand-wringing" now?

Listen to yourself!

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/05/2017 08:56

That is like the exact opposite of what I said bishop ffs

I said I wasn't talking about children who would struggle regardless.

And the banning of spinners is precisely the shitty blanket policy I am referring to. Where instead of addressing shitty parents who won't teach their children basics a policy is applied which screws over people who might actually need it.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 18/05/2017 08:56

Listen to yourself!

Well that works both ways.

Not all children need free meals. That is the point!

Increasinglymiddleaged · 18/05/2017 08:58

Yeah, as if heating up frozen pizzas and pre-prepared ready meals full of sugar, salt, additives and preservatives would improve health and reduce obesity!!!! grin

FSM stop DC being as fussy and make them try different things. They have definitely fine that with my two anyway. My dds' school dinners are actually fairly good and are freshly cooked healthy food probably 3 times a week. Of course there isn't much difference in reality between pizza and a cheese sandwich anyway so I don't sweat it.

Starlighter · 18/05/2017 08:58

School meals should be means tested, like they used to be. I can afford to buy my kids' lunches, so I'd be happy to pay for it. The money could be better spent on resources/equipment/staffing for the school.

PuckeredAhole · 18/05/2017 08:59

Free school meals were brought in by idiot Clegg. I can feed my own children. Spend the money on education/resources/good teachers.

makeourfuture · 18/05/2017 08:59

Is this what we have become? Thinking of ways to hurt the neediest most?

Why not focus on growth? On building an economy which will propel us out of this mire we have been stuck in.

Instead we target the weakest to save a few pennies....and still fail to reduce the debt! It hasn't worked.

A strong growing economy. A healthy, well-educated empowered workforce. Play to Britain's strengths....our research and stability. Focus on these and growth begins to happen. Tax receipts begin to rise very quickly.

M0stlyBowlingHedgehog · 18/05/2017 09:01

It's only three years ago that blanket free school meals for infants were brought in (I remember because DS was in year 2). I'm a Labour voter, will be voting Labour this time round, and even I think the spin round "evil Tories take away school meals for starving children" is disgusting dishonesty.

It's a policy that was brought in by a Tory government, tried for a few years (largely on public health grounds and reducing administrative costs - means tested benefits always cost almost as much again in admin costs as the actual value delivered to the end user), now a new Tory government proposes scrapping the universal element - not taking away free school meals from people who are genuinely in poverty.

Save your venom for the policies that deserve to be attacked - the shocking cuts to disability benefits and the inhumane system of administering them. This one really is a storm in a teacup.

makeourfuture · 18/05/2017 09:02

Because this isn't economics any longer with the Tories. It seems to be about something else now.

makeourfuture · 18/05/2017 09:03

This one really is a storm in a teacup.

Except it pulls the veil back on the mind set of these people!

Focus on growth and success.

DJBaggySmalls · 18/05/2017 09:04

No one will be forced to give their child the free school meal. the point of making them available to every child is to abolish the cuntish attitude of looking down on other people.

PuckeredAhole · 18/05/2017 09:04

Fundamentally Tories believe that everyone shoulder try to better themselves and pay their way where possible. We don't believe in entitlement or freeloading. We accept we have to pay for things in life. Simple.

blackheartsgirl · 18/05/2017 09:07

Fsm are only universal in England. Wales and I don't think Scotland get it. It's the one policy that I agree with the Tories on. Total waste of money.

Increasinglymiddleaged · 18/05/2017 09:10

Fundamentally Tories believe that everyone shoulder try to better themselves and pay their way where possible. We don't believe in entitlement or freeloading. We accept we have to pay for things in life. Simple.

I disagree because you don't accept that you have to pay a reasonable level of taxes to properly fund public services.

cantkeepawayforever · 18/05/2017 09:11

Has a study been done on behaviour / learning in the afternoons before and after the introduction of universal free school meals, in particular in areas with lots of 'just managing' families?

Anecdotal evidence from teaching peers suggests that the main impact of universal provision has been the improvement in behaviour and concentration after lunch in those schools where, either for economic or family background reasons, the school provided lunch was more substantial and nutritious than that which would have been provided in the school lunch.

Going back to 'free school meals only for the very poorest' means that we will go back to a situation where yes, the very poorest have an adequate (not necessarily a great, but an adequate) lunch, many will have a decent packed lunch or pay for the school one, but a percentage in each class - tiny in some schools, substantial in others - will have lunches that are not suitable to prepare the child for learning after lunchtime. The subsequent behaviour / concentration issues - that 'low level disruption' that is such an enemy of learning - affects all the children in those classes.

CrazedZombie · 18/05/2017 09:11

Just read about free breakfasts wtf?

The free fruit initiative was great. My fussy kids tried new foods because they saw classmates enjoying things like pears which they refused at home. It's been cut for ks2 now but I really appreciated it for the educational and health benefits. School dinners are rarely good quality so I can't really say the same.

Japan has universal free school meals. They are super healthy, served by the kids and the kids clean up afterwards- washing floors, wiping surfaces etc. I think if you pay tax in that system, it is worth it.

strikhedonia · 18/05/2017 09:12

more than happy to pay if the meals improve and we serve decent healthy food for all children!

I am more sceptical about who will qualify as "high earner". Let's face it, wealthy people don't send their kids to crappy state school but pay for private education. The ones who will be squeezed once again are lower middle class, too "rich" apparently to get any help, but you are working their socks off to survive.

cantkeepawayforever · 18/05/2017 09:12

(oops, should read 'packed lunch' at the end of second paragraph)

Puzzledandpissedoff · 18/05/2017 09:14

it's completely unnecessary for school meals to be free to all. They should be means tested

This ^^

There's already far too much government interference in what should be personal responsibilities, and for me this was one too far

chickpeaburger · 18/05/2017 09:15

OP - Good!

AnnasBella · 18/05/2017 09:16

There is no universal FSM at the moment. There's FSM kids and KS1 kids get a free meal.

Poeople on MN saying it makes no difference to you. Well great. But their are many thousands of working poor people who don't qualify for FSM for whom £2 a day for just one kid is an expense they could do without.

If you have 2 kids on £2 a day that's £20 a week, £80 a month. Roughly £800 a year taking out school holidays. Which cancels out the income tax threshold that they were given.