Labour’s child health action plan. What do you think?

[Naptrappedmummy]

https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labours-child-health-action-plan-will-create-the-healthiest-generation-of-children-ever/

It looks good to me (and just to disclose I will, in a ‘there’s nobody better right now’ way, be voting Labour at the next GE) but this is mumsnet so just wondered what you all thought…

I would happily pay slightly more tax in order to have a functioning NHS, social care system and education system. I don't mean all singing all dancing, just functioning.

But sadly I don't think Labour can suggest this as it would be too unpopular.

I'm not sure it would be that unpopular with many people.

Nice plan and how are they paying for this?
The people who do not care about where the money would come from. Are either on benefits and couldn’t care less about taxes raising even more or very ignorant about the economy. I fear the middle class will take the hit and would be forced to either emigrate or be very poor and cold here. I am not happy to pay more taxes. We are at the PAYE maximum and the money spent on Police forces for pro Palestine weekly marches ( millions so far) and hotels for the people arriving on boats for example should go to health and education priorities and they should create incentives not deterrents for people who may still want to live here or high skills people that want to move here.

How are we paying for the Rwanda fuck up? And oh how my heart bleeds for the MC and them having to cut back on the piano lessons.

Parents should parent their children. Not teachers.

Anyone seen KS recently?

I always think of the old song, " It's only words and words and words are all I have" when I see electioneering claims.

@OpalOrchid Why do I have to pay for your kids? You are so ignorant with your comment. You want everyone equally poor.

Some people just aspire for a free meal from the government for their kids.

Yeah, you’re not exactly a poster child for the intelligence of Tory supporters, are you?

Did you miss Trussonomics that completely trashed the economy?

It’s not the middle class who need to pay more tax. It’s the wealthiest, asset rich.

They Hoover up all the assets and then sit back raking in money for doing little. Pay very little tax by creating various companies, using dividends and off shore shell companies etc. this pushes property prices up and makes them unaffordable, leaving people stuck forking out exorbitant rents and businesses fail because of rent rises.

Labour SHOULD do something about that. I am hoping they will once in power. This whole we are scared the wealthiest will move away is rubbish. If their assets are here we can still tax them. If they sell off their assets then house prices become more affordable and people will eventually be better off.

This idea that we are all better off if there are a few making lots of money is fallacy. Trickle down economics doesn’t work.

I probably will vote Labour in the hope that they address the appalling and shameful social inequality we have but I’m not holding out hope.

How is the tooth brushing going to work?

Does every child bring a toothbrush to school? if a parent can't be arsed to brush their child teeth in at home then will they even be arsed to buy one and send it to school?

Where will the many toothbrushes be kept? Or does the school need to provide toothbrushes? How will they make sure every child's toothbrush is labeled and only used by this child?

So much hassle, so much potential waste.

This. We have the highest tax take ever at the moment in this country. Where is the money going, because it isn't going into making anything in this country work any better.
Hospital admissions for tooth extractions for children is absolutely through the roof. Anything that reduces that will save huge amounts of money throughout the child's life. Of course, somewhere from birth to 3 ( childrens centres for example) where parents could be told in no uncertain terms the damage they are doing by putting juice etc into baby bottles would also be helpful, but they were all closed down)
Frankly, if Labour just developed a better relationship with Europe GDP would rise by a fair amount. That's without closing the myriad tax loophole Tories allow their cronies to get away with. Including tax relief on private schools, meaning that Eton students get a larger whack public money spent on them than a child in a State school.

Requiring tobacco companies to include information in tobacco products that dispels the myth that smoking reduces stress and anxiety.

If gory pictures of bleeding brains and cancer-riddled lungs on tobacco products don't stop people smoking, this message isn't going to do it either.

I'm behind the idea of having mental health workers in or available to every school. I think that would be hugely beneficial.. I'd like to see sure start back again.

But they are still missing the big one for me which is why many dc have self esteem issues and needs aside from family issues : undiagnosed sen.
Special educational needs like reading issues or dyscalcula.
They need thousands of Ed pyscologists, teachers trained to understand and spot sen and properly trained Senco in primary schools.
Not being able tp read and keep up in class has huge impacts on small children sense of self and self esteem.

Also, whilst I don't necessarily think the private school tax break is a bad idea I also feel it shows no understanding of why many dc are sent to private schools. Ie they have sen that can't be supported in main streak schools

the professor on my sons respiratory team is very very vocal on this side of things. Interestingly he was of the people Starmer met with when he visited alder hey recently and from what I can tell that side of things was discussed.

sadly it’s an area where there aren’t quick fixes but work needs to be started now to stop things getting even worse

Would love to know where the money is going to come from when the non-doms decide life in Spain or France is better than the UK. We need a government that is truthful about our income and expenditure then comes up with a budget we can afford. You could then have a referendum (we need an online voting system that's at minimal cost to run) on whether we live with what we have or increase taxes.

They want to ban junk food advertising how about just going doing down the laws around alcohol for fatty food with minimum pricing per g of fat and it being illegal to sell food above X calories to someone viably over weight. Would also help those boarder line overweight as they will be too embarrassed to try buying it in case they are told no.

Tobacco is also easy to strop pick a date in the future say 2 years from now that it becomes illegal to sell it. Anyone on the street smoking/vaping = fixed penalty fine.

A lot of the problems in state schools local to us stem from mixing private and council estates into one school due to the way the towns have been built. Go back to catchment schools so similar kids go to school together. You can then focus resources on the school who need it and let parents top up schools that don't.

Instead of one election we need an online voting system so the government has full say on national security and not a lot else. Controversial policies like lock down, private school fees etc go on a voting system for X days and the public decision is final

Developed countries talking about energy security, space travel, building the hyperloop.

And the government in waiting’s flagship policy is tooth decay.

This country has completed its journey from the top of the developed world to scraping the bottom of the barrel. How sad.

Well that's what you get for decades of lack of infrastructure investment, short termism, disdain for education and innovation and a broken political system.

Are how does Labour want to fix it? With a toothbrush paid for by the slaughtered golden non dom goose?

Yes, that'll do.

The problem is that you can't fix it. We have a political system that is not working, creaking with cronyism, not fit for purpose dominated by two parties from a century ago and little will to change it.
We have an ageing population who don't want to do anything to help young people or families yet don't want immigration, a government who panders to them and a non functioning healthcare system.
All we can hope for is for someone with fresh ideas to at least try. At the very least, the Tories deserve to be punished for what they have done to this country over 15 years. They can cycle through leaders to their leisure in opposition.

@sleepyscientist why are different catchment causing problems

Including tax relief on private schools, meaning that Eton students get a larger whack public money spent on them than a child in a State school.

What tax relief are you referring to? I’m assuming you’re referring to the fact that no VAT is currently payable on fees? That’s not the same as public money being spent on them.

This really.

Plus I assume they aren’t considering the highly successful marketing campaigns being undertaken by private schools encouraging parents to pay upfront to mitigate these potential increases. I’m told that 60% of parents at dd’s school (us included) have already taken this option and paid some amount of fees upfront. Many of those remaining are international students and I’m unsure if they are subject to the same VAT rules.

I actually agree with the policies, I really do. Some parents aren’t able or willing to do the basics for their dc and I think it’s right that in a civilised society there should be a safety net and support for these children, and that if it’s rolled out for all children there is less stigma attached. That’s without even considering the long term savings by encouraging children into a healthier lifestyle early on. But I think this has to be a long term project in terms of recruitment and funding for both the school based and the NHS and dentistry elements. I also think that raising tax by a very small amount for all would be a more effective solution.

The tooth brushing and breakfast club is for 3 to 5 year olds, but most are at least 4 years old before they start school. So are Labour planning to pay private nurseries and child minders to provide breakfast and tooth brushes? What about 3 and 4 year olds who don’t go to nursery or child minders?

Tooth brushing also needs to start as soon as the dc has teeth. A lot of dc who need to have teeth removed will already have tooth decay by age 3 if tooth brushing isn’t being done regularly or at all.