Marcus Rashford: Horseboxes, chip shops and cafes back school meals campaign

[papasmurf]

Indeed , we all pay taxes

The problem is that is due to Tory Austerity and a callous hostile environment towards vulnerable people, that does not absolve anyone from defending the vulnerable and being VERY critical of the Tory government.
My local MP is a bloody disgrace.

[Streetwalker]

What makes you think I don't help the poor and needy.  I have been helping the poor, needy, and the vulnerable for  60 years.

Indeed , we all pay taxes

[papasmurf]

it is an odd thing about you Pappy that you talk the talk, but the moment I suggest that you help the poor and needy by putting your hand in your own pocket, you say that you are being insulted. 

What makes you think I don't help the poor and needy.  I have been helping the poor, needy, and the vulnerable for  60 years.

[Borchester]

There is no need for the continual personal insults.  I seem to be far better informed about the poverty where I live than people on this forum do about their own area.  If the government got rid of the consultants they are paying £7000 a day for doing a bad job that would provide more than enough money to feed the children who need feeding at weekends and in school holidays.
(I am kept up to speed about the local situation, by regular emails and news bulletins from the local Diocese office which collects and collates such data.)

I am also not hiding indoors, I am shielding, there is a big difference. i am also in communication with all of the UK and most of the World, that is what IT s for.
There is also very detailed information on every voting district in Britain here:- https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics

Which is updated on a regular basis, but my MP obviously never looks at it.

it is an odd thing about you Pappy that you talk the talk, but the moment I suggest that you help the poor and needy by putting your hand in your own pocket, you say that you are being insulted. 

[papasmurf]

Folk like Pappy, who have spent months hiding indoors, can't be spending anything so there is no reason why their pensions can't be cut to feed all the hungry children in his area 

There is no need for the continual personal insults.  I seem to be far better informed about the poverty where I live than people on this forum do about their own area.  If the government got rid of the consultants they are paying £7000 a day for doing a bad job that would provide more than enough money to feed the children who need feeding at weekends and in school holidays.
(I am kept up to speed about the local situation, by regular emails and news bulletins from the local Diocese office which collects and collates such data.)

I am also not hiding indoors, I am shielding, there is a big difference. i am also in communication with all of the UK and most of the World, that is what IT s for.
There is also very detailed information on every voting district in Britain here:- https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics

Which is updated on a regular basis, but my MP obviously never looks at it.

[Borchester]

Poverty levels are based on average earnings which means for everyone who earns a decent living another family falls into poverty .  Croydon reckons (according to papas link) to have 28% child poverty ,but that doesn't mean 28% of kids are going hungry just that they live in households that after housing costs are below the average for that area for disposable income  and they then fall under the bar that denotes poverty .

Fair play to the local establishments that are offering free meals . It would be interesting to see the take up though ,I honestly dont see ques going round the block anywhere ,nor do I see starving kids ,it was only a few months ago they were saying the big problem was child obesity .

This is true. A figure is selected and anyone below that is in poverty. So if 20% of the population earns less than the rest then they are below the poverty level. The population might be made up of multi millionaires but the way the figures are calculated the lowest 20% of multi millionaires are deemed to be living in dire poverty,

There ought to be some sort of life style test applied to all state benefits. Folk like Pappy, who have spent months hiding indoors, can't be spending anything so there is no reason why their pensions can't be cut to feed all the hungry children in his area 

[Streetwalker]

Frankly you need to get yourself informed about the local situation where you live.
Where I live the situation is dire and the local (Tory) MP appears to have gone into hiding because of the well deserved stick he is getting for not knowing how bad the situation is. (He was born and bred here so he has no excuse.)

As I say papa being in poverty doesn't mean your going hungry . There are still no ques at the curry house

[papasmurf]

Fair play to the local establishments that are offering free meals . It would be interesting to see the take up though ,I honestly dont see ques going round the block anywhere ,nor do I see starving kids ,it was only a few months ago they were saying the big problem was child obesity .

Frankly you need to get yourself informed about the local situation where you live.
Where I live the situation is dire and the local (Tory) MP appears to have gone into hiding because of the well deserved stick he is getting for not knowing how bad the situation is. (He was born and bred here so he has no excuse.)

[Streetwalker]

Poverty levels are based on average earnings which means for everyone who earns a decent living another family falls into poverty .  Croydon reckons (according to papas link) to have 28% child poverty ,but that doesn't mean 28% of kids are going hungry just that they live in households that after housing costs are below the average for that area for disposable income  and they then fall under the bar that denotes poverty .

Fair play to the local establishments that are offering free meals . It would be interesting to see the take up though ,I honestly dont see ques going round the block anywhere ,nor do I see starving kids ,it was only a few months ago they were saying the big problem was child obesity .

[papasmurf]

You support my point — local organisations are best at quickly identifying and targeting emergency help for those who need it...

But they need government money to do it.  Bojo-The-Cown judging by his rambling comments on TV news just now is completely out of touch as are the majority if Tory MPs who are now bleating about the deserved abuse they are getting and being barred from many establishment.
If he does not back down the Tories will have a deep problem.

[patman post]

What the government fails miserably to understand is the need is NOW. Not weeks/months down the road, NOW.
The built in long delays to getting benefit and the hostile environment towards claimants by the DWP/JobCentre Plus and DWP contractors is a bloody disgrace.
A local charity has been providing 400 hot meals for children who need it at weekends and school holidays for several years not the just during the pandemic.
The Tories have  cut welfare to ribbons since May 2010 a millions are falling through the safety net and that is made worse by those getting no money at all as they have fallen through the Covid-19 safety net.

You support my point — local organisations are best at quickly identifying and targeting emergency help for those who need it...

[papasmurf]

This is what community should be all about. Sitting at home criticising govt because it won't hand out a special purse with a Feed The Kids label is easy. The govt is already dishing out money by the bucket load to local areas.
Getting involved with other individuals or groups to organise additional practical emergency aid for people who need help would seem to be more useful...

What the government fails miserably to understand is the need is NOW. Not weeks/months down the road, NOW.
The built in long delays to getting benefit and the hostile environment towards claimants by the DWP/JobCentre Plus and DWP contractors is a bloody disgrace.
A local charity has been providing 400 hot meals for children who need it at weekends and school holidays for several years not the just during the pandemic.
The Tories have  cut welfare to ribbons since May 2010 a millions are falling through the safety net and that is made worse by those getting no money at all as they have fallen through the Covid-19 safety net.
According to this, (last years pre-Covid data. The constituency where I live has 33.1% (4682,) children in poverty:-

http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/child-poverty-in-your-area-201415-201819/

[patman post]

Locally, the response from local people and local business has been frankly astounding, and I thank them all for stepping in where the government has failed.

This is what community should be all about. Sitting at home criticising govt because it won't hand out a special purse with a Feed The Kids label is easy. The govt is already dishing out money by the bucket load to local areas.
Getting involved with other individuals or groups to organise additional practical emergency aid for people who need help would seem to be more useful...

[papasmurf]

[papasmurf]

Link to petition:-

More at link:-

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276


End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry
Government should support vulnerable children & #endchildfoodpoverty by implementing 3 recommendations from the National Food Strategy to expand access to Free School Meals, provide meals & activities during holidays to stop holiday hunger & increase the value of and expand the Healthy Start scheme