Originally Posted by donkey22

Again, yes they have stopped funding the free meal scheme. Unless the BBC have also got it wrong?
‘The Government has ruled out extending free meals nationwide beyond term time’-https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-54657796

Is that really the best you can do?

I have respected your views and readily accept we will not agree on everything but - can you honestly not see how stupid it is pursuing this line of argument?

It's analogous to saying I'm no longer going to provide you with free travel, instead - I'm going to give you vouchers to exchange for an executive taxi rides on call, to which you howl - yeah, but you've taken away my free travel!

Arguing that something has been taken away whilst ignoring the, arguably, superior replacement is baffling to the majority of intelligent people.

Originally Posted by gazaprop

Is that really the best you can do?

I have respected your views and readily accept we will not agree on everything but - can you honestly not see how stupid it is pursuing this line of argument?

It's analogous to saying I'm no longer going to provide you with free travel, instead - I'm going to give you vouchers to exchange for an executive taxi rides on call, to which you howl - yeah, but you've taken away my free travel!

Arguing that something has been taken away whilst ignoring the, arguably, superior replacement is baffling to the majority of intelligent people.

We’re obviously not going to agree and your obvious lack of intelligence at grasping this is equally baffling. I was arguing that the funding has been withdrawn. Any reasonable person who watches the news or reads a quality newspaper would be well aware that this a fact. I’m done trying to convince you, I can only bang my head against a brick wall for so long.

The £63 million was for the summer and it wasn't just for school meals.
That money was spent.
The government expected it to last 12 weeks from June.
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/...eeks%E2%80%9D.

And for anyone interested. Here’s the petition to ask our very own Trump tribute act to do another u-turn and reconsider this shameful policy.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276

Originally Posted by donkey22

And for anyone interested. Here’s the petition to ask our very own Trump tribute act to do another u-turn and reconsider this shameful policy.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276

So - just to be clear - you want them to abandon giving money to Local Authorities, which will be spent on bespoke, locally driven interventions - so that Blair(II) can wring a little more political capital out of an already shabby piece of posturing. Good - glad I got that into my thick skull!

Originally Posted by gazaprop

So - just to be clear - you want them to abandon giving money to Local Authorities, which will be spent on bespoke, locally driven interventions - so that Blair(II) can wring a little more political capital out of an already shabby piece of posturing. Good - glad I got that into my thick skull!

Oh ffs, no wrong again. I want them to do a u-turn and reinstate the dedicated funding which allows Schools to provide one decent meal a day during school holidays for some of the 4 million plus kids in this country that are classed as living in poverty. Me and the 1,042,252 people who have also signed the petition.
Got it? No, probably not.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Oh ffs, no wrong again. I want them to do a u-turn and reinstate the dedicated funding which allows Schools to provide one decent meal a day during school holidays for some of the 4 million plus kids in this country that are classed as living in poverty. Me and the 1,042,252 people who have also signed the petition.
Got it? No, probably not.

At last, you want the Government to do a u- turn and substitute a good scheme, which goes beyond providing one decidedly average meal, with an inferior one - yeah, got it now. Thanks.

As an aside, if you're citing popular opinion as authority - can I remind you we've left the EU following a previous populist campaign.

Originally Posted by gazaprop

At last, you want the Government to do a u- turn and substitute a good scheme, which goes beyond providing one decidedly average meal, with an inferior one - yeah, got it now. Thanks.

As an aside, if you're citing popular opinion as authority - can I remind you we've left the EU following a previous populist campaign.

No. That is your unhinged opinion on the schemes. I’ll refer you back to my previous post. That’s what I want.
I posted a link to a petition, not an opinion poll. It’s a lot of people expressing their disgust, as I have about the decision. Read into it what you like. I couldn’t care less about your twisted opinions, and to be honest, I’m finding your narrative rather boring.

Originally Posted by donkey22

No. That is your unhinged opinion on the schemes. I’ll refer you back to my previous post. That’s what I want.
I posted a link to a petition, not an opinion poll. It’s a lot of people expressing their disgust, as I have about the decision. Read into it what you like. I couldn’t care less about your twisted opinions, and to be honest, I’m finding your narrative rather boring.

So now you’ll know how the rest of are feeling about your incessant Socialist propaganda.

Originally Posted by justbecause

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So now you’ll know how the rest of are feeling about your incessant Socialist propaganda.

You’ve been warned before troll! Now crawl back under your bridge this instant.

Originally Posted by donkey22

No. That is your unhinged opinion on the schemes. I’ll refer you back to my previous post. That’s what I want.
I posted a link to a petition, not an opinion poll. It’s a lot of people expressing their disgust, as I have about the decision. Read into it what you like. I couldn’t care less about your twisted opinions, and to be honest, I’m finding your narrative rather boring.

Of course it's an opinion poll, the response to which is driven by misinformation, which in turn is driven by unscrupulous politicians desperate to garner political advantage on the backs of the disadvantaged.
Opinion comes into the debate where you believe free school meals are the answer and I believe localised interventions, including vouchers, are the answer.
You earlier cited the BBC as an authority - on one of their recent news programmes it was reported that, during the summer, significant amounts of food were thrown away due to poor take up.
Surely it's better to provide vouchers to be used in a popular outlet than offer meals which may or may not be eaten - which do you feel best serves those in need?

My original beef (no pun intended), is that the left are trying to portray this issue as Tories forcing children into starvation, an emotive issue, callously calculated to sit snugly in the left's 'don't let a good crisis go to waste' agenda.

I want something to be done, that's neither unhinged nor twisted. Where we differ is on how it is done but - what I'm not prepared to do is let lies and political posturing go unchallenged.

Another interesting aspect of this debate was highlighted on the Andrew Marr show last Sunday. When Marcus Rashford was experiencing 'food poverty' Labour were in power and voted against a similar free school meals program. I'm unaware whether or not the Tories used this to say Labour were forcing children to starve over the holidays.

Originally Posted by gazaprop

Of course it's an opinion poll, the response to which is driven by misinformation, which in turn is driven by unscrupulous politicians desperate to garner political advantage on the backs of the disadvantaged.
Opinion comes into the debate where you believe free school meals are the answer and I believe localised interventions, including vouchers, are the answer.
You earlier cited the BBC as an authority - on one of their recent news programmes it was reported that, during the summer, significant amounts of food were thrown away due to poor take up.
Surely it's better to provide vouchers to be used in a popular outlet than offer meals which may or may not be eaten - which do you feel best serves those in need?

My original beef (no pun intended), is that the left are trying to portray this issue as Tories forcing children into starvation, an emotive issue, callously calculated to sit snugly in the left's 'don't let a good crisis go to waste' agenda.

No, apparently not. Over a thousand paediatricians and doctors also signed a letter to the government. They specifically point out that food vouchers will only be a short term remedy which ‘will not solve the problem’ and have asked for the original funding to be restored.

Originally Posted by donkey22

No, apparently not. Over a thousand paediatricians and doctors also signed a letter to the government. They specifically point out that food vouchers will only be a short term remedy which ‘will not solve the problem’ and have asked for the original funding to be restored.

It's a fair point but, hardly representative. I'd take any petition data with a pinch of salt as they are inevitably started and signed by an already fixated audience - it's just the way things are, petitions are never started following throngs of people chanting, WHAT DO WE WANT? - THINGS TO STAY THE SAME, WHEN DO WE WANT IT? - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I don't know what methodology they've used to arrive at that conclusion but any intervention during these times will inevitably be short term.
I return to the point I made earlier that it was reported significant shortfalls occurred in the take up of school meals in the summer. I would have thought that logically, an application for vouchers signals an intent to actually purchase the food, thereby maximising the potential for it to reach those in need.
Again, my argument isn't against the need to do something rather, it is against those on the left, seeking to politically weaponise the issue by implying nothing is replacing the free school meals.
That is a lie and deserves to be challenged.

Originally Posted by gazaprop

It's a fair point but, hardly representative. I'd take any petition data with a pinch of salt as they are inevitably started and signed by an already fixated audience - it's just the way things are, petitions are never started following throngs of people chanting, WHAT DO WE WANT? - THINGS TO STAY THE SAME, WHEN DO WE WANT IT? - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I don't know what methodology they've used to arrive at that conclusion but any intervention during these times will inevitably be short term.
I return to the point I made earlier that it was reported significant shortfalls occurred in the take up of school meals in the summer. I would have thought that logically, an application for vouchers signals an intent to actually purchase the food, thereby maximising the potential for it to reach those in need.
Again, my argument isn't against the need to do something rather, it is against those on the left, seeking to politically weaponise the issue by implying nothing is replacing the free school meals.
That is a lie and deserves to be challenged.

I’m taking all your comments with a pinch of salt. I’ll rely on the opinion of experts, ie the 1000+ professionals who have said the tory withdrawal of funding and voucher replacement to be a flawed idea.