This MP should be sacked

[acerred]

Disgusting comments. He should be sacked.

@Clavinova

Where is he getting the idea that schools and teachers are supposed to be apolitical? Teachers standards don't say that anywhere (there's a bit about not undermining democracy, which is not what the school has done anyway).

Here;
"the guidance stipulates that “all staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act appropriately in terms of their behaviour, the views they express (in particular political views)”.

"It goes on to say that staff must also be appropriate in their use of school resources, and “should not use school resources for party political purposes”.

That's not the same as being apolitical though.

What is inappropriate about drawing attention to the views an elected official has expressed publicly about parents?

Where has the school used school resources for party political purposes?

Ben Bradley quoted the support of a Headteacher of a school in his constituency to the views he was expressing, without actually checking he had their permission. A Governor of that school checked with the HT and confirmed that no such support for Ben Bradley's view had been given by the HT.
Ben Bradley also disclosed information he says is correct about the pupils and parents of a school. If he knows that information to be true, he also knows that it is confidential and should not be placed in the public domain.
Ben Bradley then deleted his tweet. If he is so certain his views are correct at least have the courage of his convictions, or perhaps he has seen that the optics of his argument are not playing well. He also offers no solution to the fact that there are hungry children in the UK in 2020.

My view, as a School Governor, is that there are children going hungry. Yes, a very few in receipt of the summer holiday voucher/food parcel support may not have used it for the benefit of their child/ren, but let's not make the majority pay for that minimal abuse. There needs to be a better solution but that will take time and meanwhile there needs to be a continuance of the 'good enough' system from the summer holiday until the Government sorts something permanent. Children should not be hungry in the UK in 2020.

Correction - not 'UK' but 'England'.

StandWitch so a big post and you haven't shown us where Mark Jenkinson is talking about £90 vouchers. It is clear on twitter that he did say people were trading food parcels for drugs so are you just interpreting for him or did he actually say anything about the vouchers? I mean did he clarify that when he said food parcels he actually meant £90 vouchers.

This "I know in my constituency that, as tiny as a minority it might be, food parcels are sold or traded for drugs." is copied from twitter, what he actually posted on there.

StandWitch so a big post and you haven't shown us where Mark Jenkinson is talking about £90 vouchers. It is clear on twitter that he did say people were trading food parcels for drugs so are you just interpreting for him or did he actually say anything about the vouchers? I mean did he clarify that when he said food parcels he actually meant £90 vouchers.

Sorry we might have been talking at cross purposes

• Ben Bradley indicated that £90 vouchers were sold for drugs
• Mark Jenkinson said, effectively of course they are - 'I know in my constituency that, as tiny as a minority it might be, food parcels are sold or traded for drugs.'

this does not appear to be a reference to FSM, given that FSM is nothing to do with food parcels, but rather to the fact that people obtain non-perishable food from food banks, and sell it for drugs.

both comments are poorly judged, but that people will trade £90 supermarket vouchers for drugs, and that people sell food bank parcels for drugs, are true.

Philip Davies MP replying to a 16 year old constituent who wrote to him concerned about his vote against extending free school meals.

So Mark Jenkinson was talking about food parcels nothing to do with replacing FSM during the holidays, Ben Bradley was talking about vouchers.

From the gov.uk site re summer food fund

"Schools can also claim through the exceptional costs fund if they are arranging food parcels (rather than vouchers) for benefits-related free school meal pupils over the summer holidays. If schools arrange food parcels, these can only be ordered for children in receipt of free school meals before the summer holidays begin."

So are you right or is the govt?

More disdain from politicians
twitter.com/Glitter_brawl/status/1319738398505111555?s=19

MagicoRomantico just when you think they can't sink any lower they go and prove you wrong.

Phillip Davies you say?

His reputation precedes him.

He is obviously an utter cunt:
www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/politics/shipley-mp-philip-davies-defends-calling-16-year-old-girl-intolerant-virtue-signaller-email-3014048

Seems he gets annoyed by people emailing him

www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/politics/shipley-mp-philip-davies-defends-calling-16-year-old-girl-intolerant-virtue-signaller-email-3014048

I'm not really sure what your point is here.

There are food parcels from food banks, there were food parcels for people sheltering from covid.

I found some on Twitter

twitter.com/BennyMorts/status/1245621592089956353/photo/1
twitter.com/GothicCard/status/1245288526905839616/photo/1

As for whether schools, as per your quote 'claim through the exceptional costs fund if they are arranging food parcels (rather than vouchers) for benefits-related free school meal pupils over the summer holidays.' then that doesn't seem like it was very common - clearly a £90 supermarket voucher would be preferred by the overwhelming majority of parents, rather than a box of Heinz baked beans or what have you.

Regardless, if the schools did provide such parcels, then it is obviously possible that they were sold.

Schools did provide parcels, I actually saw a head teacher on local news during lockdown, he was taking parcels to children's homes.

So there were food parcels and as the conversations weren't about food banks it is reasonable to assume he was referring to the parcels children entitled to FSMs got during the summer.

So did you just assume he was talking about food banks or is there any actual evidence that was what he was talking about.

The thing is all he said was 'people trade food parcels for drugs'. The overwhelming majority of food parcels come from food banks. Some food parcels might have been distributed by schools as well, but in terms of the most recent scheme, that was an alternative, not the primary offering.

Whether or not the food parcels he's referring to are food parcels from schools or food parcels from food banks doesn't seem to be particularly significant to the conversation.

I'm not sure if any food parcels were distributed by Workington schools in the summer; they did in March when school was abruptly shut down. www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/18322239.covid-19-school-helps-food-wellbeing/

but by summer there was a voucher scheme in place, so it would have made less sense to do so.

Well you were quite clear in this statement "There were no 'food parcels' as they put in their headline, one of many similarly misleading things they put out." There were food parcels, you've seen the link and admitted it so you got that wrong.

"It was a £90 electronic debit card valid in supermarkets for food similar to American food stamps," or as you have conceded a food parcel

"As far as Jenkinson's comments go, the point he was making seems to be that if people already trade food bank parcels for cash/drugs, then they will certainly trade £90 supermarket vouchers for drugs." He doesn't say anything about £90 vouchers.

"Selling stolen meat for drugs is well-documented" So now parents with children on FSM are the same as thieves?

"This was a £90 supermarket voucher valid for food
this does not appear to be a reference to FSM, given that FSM is nothing to do with food parcels, but rather to the fact that people obtain non-perishable food from food banks, and sell it for drugs."
You know perfectly well what they were talking about was children who are entitled to FSMs getting support for food in holidays. You have already admitted that the replacement for those FSM was either a £90 voucher or a food parcel. Why the back tracking?

Regardless of any of what you want to make out he said he actually admitted it was a very small minority who were trading food parcels for drugs so why should the majority of children go without?

As I mentioned, the government have increased benefits over and beyond the amount of this proposed scheme, without being prompted to by footballers on Twitter. And if it's true that food stamp-type schemes create inefficiencies, why would we introduce them in the UK?

You have already admitted that the replacement for those FSM was either a £90 voucher or a food parcel.

no.

It is not a replacement because free school meals have existed for decades, and it was clear that if you were entitled to FSM, you would get lunch provided 180 days a year or whatever it is, and provide their lunch on weekends, school holidays, and so on.

Food parcels were created because schools were abruptly shutdown meaning that that food was no longer available. They still exist for children who have to stay at home due to covid. www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

During the past summer holiday supermarket vouchers were made available. www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund This was the 'free school meal'. Anything else was an 'alternative'.

Going forward the options are either supermarket vouchers or no supermarket vouchers. There is no way to efficiently provide meals for millions of children when schools are closed, and that has not been proposed. Food parcels are also not a good use of government funds, in that not everyone wants a box of Heinz beans & Napoli spaghetti.

Regardless of any of what you want to make out he said he actually admitted it was a very small minority who were trading food parcels for drugs so why should the majority of children go without?

the government pays parents thousands of pounds in the form of universal credit child allowance, personal allowance, and also child benefit. It also funds housing costs via Universal Credit.

Some councils such as Birmingham, K&C, Liverpool, and others are providing 'free school meals' during half-term. This is a £15 voucher the same as the one administered during the summer holiday.

There is no way to 'feed children' efficiently. All you can do is hand out cash or vouchers. For some reason everyone has now decided that vouchers are the way forward, even though £15 food vouchers don't actually mean any children will be fed.

Not all benefits were increased though? I don’t think income support or jobseekers were increased, just uc and possibly tax credits?

yes possibly if you don't work or something you might not be entitled to UC with kids? I'm not totally au fait with that.

Clearly.

There are 5.69 million people on Universal Credit, of which just over 2 million are in work.

dwp-stats.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=f90fb305d8da4eb3970812b3199cf489

In February (latest date) there were 33,000 JSA claimants with dependent children, and 228,000 Income Support claimants with dependent children

stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/dataCatalogueExplorer.xhtml

Probably more have moved to UC since then.

I feel so ashamed that children in the UK are more impoverished now than 10 years ago. That the situation was so bad under May's austerity agenda that the UN special rapporteur Philip Alston published a report that was damning of child poverty here, and yet nothing happens in 2 years.

Those people on here suggesting benefits have increased. They are lower now in real figures than 10 years ago, particularly if you are disabled. Don't forget the 'bedroom tax', 'the bottom tier of DLA abolished by introducing PiP which the Appeal Courts later deemed unlawful, the abolition of HB for anything other than a single room for the under 35s, massive increases in homelessness since 2010, and the waste of space Tory MPs vote against* ensuring children have enough to eat during holiday times . . ..

This country is shameful.

@WrongKindOfFace

Not all benefits were increased though? I don’t think income support or jobseekers were increased, just uc and possibly tax credits?

Tax credits weren't increased. My income dropped by 50% and my tax credits went down by £30 a week. I work for over the 21 required hours.

Tax credits were increased by £1045

www.gov.uk/government/news/increase-to-working-tax-credits-what-this-means

There is a 30-hour element to tax credits of £825