This MP should be sacked

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Disgusting comments. He should be sacked.

@ancientgran

I love this comment "There is not one dealer on the planet who's accepting Dairylea sarnies in exchange for gear". by Jack Peat in The London Economic.

It's just so offensive because it's obviously so untrue. It is so insulting. I can't remember ever being so angry at a government.

And tbh if food parcels were being exchanged for drugs, that would be utterly heartbreaking. Imagine being a child where that was your reality. Is the answer really 'well, no food parcels for anyone then'.

Ben Bradley is pure poison, Mansfield is one of the most underprivileged areas in the country & has some of the highest rates for addiction. The tories chose to sell at the drug & alcohol services to a private company leaving Mansfield with no service for over 6 months, my partner died during this time as there weren't any services available to detox him & keep him clean of alcohol. Sir Alan Meale who was the previous Labour MP worked tirelessly for the people of Mansfield, Ben Bradley has done nothing except turn up for photo opportunities to make himself look good & has bragged about how many food banks there now are, something that any caring MP would think that the need for food banks was shameful.

I hadn’t seen the schools response, just this complete scum bags Facebook comment.

Well done that school.

MagicoRomantico thanks for that I will sign it as well. I did a search and the other one came up so I thought that was it. Hope I haven't sent anyone off to the wrong one.

@Nat6999

Ben Bradley is pure poison, Mansfield is one of the most underprivileged areas in the country & has some of the highest rates for addiction. The tories chose to sell at the drug & alcohol services to a private company leaving Mansfield with no service for over 6 months, my partner died during this time as there weren't any services available to detox him & keep him clean of alcohol. Sir Alan Meale who was the previous Labour MP worked tirelessly for the people of Mansfield, Ben Bradley has done nothing except turn up for photo opportunities to make himself look good & has bragged about how many food banks there now are, something that any caring MP would think that the need for food banks was shameful.

I’m so sorry for you and your partner

Presumably they are putting extra funding for social services to help support those kids who are having their dairylea dunkers swapped for heroin?

I love this comment "There is not one dealer on the planet who's accepting Dairylea sarnies in exchange for gear". by Jack Peat in The London Economic.

no, that was by Ash Sarkar.

And it was a typically stupid comment, because nobody is proposing to hand out sandwiches to children, and The London Economic is essentially fake news. There were no 'food parcels' as they put in their headline, one of many similarly misleading things they put out.

It was a £90 electronic debit card valid in supermarkets for food similar to American food stamps, and very obviously tradeable for cash. If someone offered you £90 Sainsburys voucher for £60 cash or whatever, clearly that would be a deal for the seller assuming they want money for drugs, and also for the buyer, assuming that they are not a drug addict.

It has nothing to do with Dairylea sandwiches,

Well it must have been quoted by Jack Peat as it was his name next to it. Or maybe it was Ash Sarkar who was quoting Jack Peat, it doesn't actually matter as it wasn't the person who said it that I loved it was what they said.

If it was electronic cards for Sainsburys then maybe point that out to Mark Jenkinson who said it was food parcels.

Mark Jenkinson MP
@markjenkinsonmp
Here,
@AngelaRayner
is either being disingenuous or really hasn’t a clue what goes on in her constituency. I hope for the sake of her constituents it’s the former.

I know in my constituency that, as tiny as a minority it might be, food parcels are sold or traded for drugs.

"I have read it - I am simply reporting that she is saying her comments were taken out of context."

No need to. Had you read it, you'd know that I posted her reported response, not the original comment. The original comment, published in her newsletter, is referenced.

@Tanith

"I have read it - I am simply reporting that she is saying her comments were taken out of context."

No need to. Had you read it, you'd know that I posted her reported response, not the original comment. The original comment, published in her newsletter, is referenced.

I'm not sure what you are saying.

Just like you, I said that their is 'another MP who says their comments have been taken out of context'.

Ok, well the thread is nominally about Ben Bradley, who correctly points out that £90 supermarket vouchers are very obviously exchangeable for drugs/cash.

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.

I'm quite certain that food banks don't hand out Dairylea sandwiches - it's non-perishable stuff.

Clearly people DO sell food bank parcels for drugs, there is no question about this at all.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3232321/The-food-bank-users-selling-handouts-raise-money-drugs-Nuneaton-residents-say-practice-despicable-abuse-trust.html

How common this is, and whether Jenkinson's comments were well-advised aren't clear, but silly comments about Dairylea sandwiches don't seem any more constructive than his.

@rwalker

Friend works in a school a high % of vouchers given out never benefit the child. Loads of them but joints of meat and sell it for cash .

Do you have anything other than anecdotal evidence? How does your friend know - is she monitoring the families and watching what they do with the joints of meat? For all she knows they are taking them and freezing them.

Selling stolen meat for drugs is well-documented. www.vice.com/en/article/5g98vq/heroin-meat-thieves-929

www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/02/29/news/drug-addicts-selling-stolen-meat-door-to-door-to-pay-to-fund-their-habit-1854773/

www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/heroin-addict-stole-meat-cheese-986758

www.thestar.co.uk/news/crime/sheffield-drug-addict-stole-meat-tesco-2995421

www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/local/clacton/18708424.relapsed-drug-addict-stole-meat-frinton-shopping-centre/

www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/crime/langlees-heroin-addict-jailed-after-stealing-meat-falkirk-store-3013553

www.wigantoday.net/news/crime/wigan-drug-addict-more-50-convictions-stole-steak-ms-1742012

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/18643538.man-stole-meat-buy-drugs/

The government whips really aren't reading the room.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-tory-neo-nazi-anti-islam-hitler-conservative-party-b1254794.html

Apparently they told a concerned Tory peer to back off when he objected to the Tories being in bed with full-on lunatic fascists in the Council of Europe. The whips said, the Prime Minister can't be on top of everything.

I think cocooning Johnson like this is proving to be a disaster, from schools to poverty to European allegiances.

Boris Johnson is not Trump or Nero. Ben Bradley is not Jared Kushner or Sporus. This is the UK.

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. Can you give us a link to where he has mentioned £90 supermarket vouchers, I couldn't so would like to read them. Thanks.

I'm quite certain that food banks don't hand out Dairylea sandwiches - it's non-perishable stuff. I don't think anyone was talking about foodbanks, it was about FSMs, some people got vouchers, some got food parcels and some kids had lunches provided (well people on here have quoted that.) Maybe there is some confusion and he wasn't talking about FSM or swapping food parcels but that is what he seems to have said.

Seriously how many families would actully somehow swap these vouchers for drugs or not use them as intended? A TINY percentage
And because of that possibility it would be better for ALL the other eligible children to go without ?

Selling stolen meat for drugs is well-documented

That's not disputed but it doesn't mean that school staff know that most families are doing this. It's impossible to know what individual families are doing unless you actually see them doing it.

I don't think that tweet was to be taken literally about Dairylea sandwiches. I think it was supposed to refer to all dairy products.

And tbh I would bet that there is much more drug taking amongst high earners than those who are eligible for FSM how about that for making assumptions but I bet I’m right

What exactly do MPs think is in the average food parcel that it’s actually tradable for drugs?

Or that you could even sell it to earn enough to purchase drugs?

Can you give us a link to where he has mentioned £90 supermarket vouchers, I couldn't so would like to read them. Thanks.

for context, there are no actual 'free school meals in holidays', this is just a political slogan.

there ARE free school meals at school.

And there was a 'free school meals in school holidays' scheme over the summer. This was a £90 supermarket voucher valid for food

www.thesun.co.uk/money/11960389/parents-deadline-apply-free-school-meals-summer/

Rashford was calling for this to continue. It's misrepresentation in that it should be called 'food stamps' or similar.

If you look at the tweet by Angela Rayner quoting Bradley

twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1319698900069076994

he says 'extending FSM doesn't reach this kids'

'Extending FSM' means handing out supermarket gift cards. It doesn't mean handing out meals.

There IS something called the Holiday Activities and Food program

www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-children-to-benefit-from-free-meals-and-activities

however it's only available in certain areas, and this is NOT what the so-called 'holiday FSM' refers to at all.

The call is for £15/week in supermarket gift cards during school holidays. That is fine, but food stamps (which are common in the US) have been criticised for being demeaning & inefficient, when compared to cash payments.

Here it can be noted that there have been large rises in cash benefits this year - the government increased Universal Credit by £20/week in April, and has re-linked housing benefit/UC LHA to local rents, after having frozen them for many years; this is an increase of in some cases several hundreds pounds a month.

There is no 'extending FSM' literally, there is only giving out £15 gift cards or not giving out £15 gift cards.

I don't think anyone was talking about foodbanks, it was about FSMs, some people got vouchers, some got food parcels and some kids had lunches provided (well people on here have quoted that.) Maybe there is some confusion and he wasn't talking about FSM or swapping food parcels but that is what he seems to have said.

No, the scheme was extremely clear - £15/week over the summer holidays in lieu of FSM. This was separate to and in addition to the 'food & activities programme', which has not been referred to as such.

There seems to be a bit of an irony in that people are talking abut 'FSM in holidays' referring to a scheme that doesn't involve either meals nor in school, and not the scheme which did actually involve meals.

I don't think that tweet was to be taken literally about Dairylea sandwiches. I think it was supposed to refer to all dairy products.

? dairy products are nothing to do with this at all not even a little bit. The main thing being discussed was a supermarket voucher for £90 in lieu of FSM, and second to that that foodbank parcels are resold for drugs. Neither of these are really anything to do with dairy products.

Actually, if his facts are correct, why should he be sacked? He is saying we need to help kids who live with parents who are not looking after them or prioritising them.

The school's interpretation of good words is not very accurate.

But it is horrendous for MPs to vote against free school meals, and I wrote to my MP this week to say so.

@LittleRa - did your MP say that: some local Tory MPs justified their vote against the school holiday meals by saying they had “been told” that the vouchers had been used for cigarettes, alcohol and “unhealthy food”.

Because that exactly what mine said when I emailed him this week!!

Some families, although certainly not all, have used vouchers to buy alcohol and cigarettes and there have been quite a lot of complaints about this by supermarket staff who did not think this was a good use of taxpayers’ money

His whole email was probably a cut and paste job... 🙄

[quote tenlittlecygnets]**@LittleRa* - did your MP say that: some local Tory MPs justified their vote against the school holiday meals by saying they had “been told” that the vouchers had been used for cigarettes, alcohol and “unhealthy food”.*

Because that exactly what mine said when I emailed him this week!!

Some families, although certainly not all, have used vouchers to buy alcohol and cigarettes and there have been quite a lot of complaints about this by supermarket staff who did not think this was a good use of taxpayers’ money

His whole email was probably a cut and paste job... 🙄[/quote]
It wasn’t my own local MP because luckily for me I live in an area that still has a labour MP, but I read these quotes from local Tory MPs in nearby constituencies. Looks like it a party line being used then.