Lee Anderson - what a guy!

[Dirac]

Well, he first caused a furore with his patronising views on poor people not being able to make a meal for 30p (he's well placed to make such observations when we pay him over £80k pa salary and over £200k last year in expenses).

Now, he has accused Jack Monroe of making a fortune from the poor. That Jack Monroe, the one who took Kate Hopkins to the cleaners for tens of thousands of pounds in a libel action.

Jack is now going to sue him. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...r-lee-anderson

[said]

Well, he first caused a furore with his patronising views on poor people not being able to make a meal for 30p (he's well placed to make such observations when we pay him over £80k pa salary and over £200k last year in expenses).

Now, he has accused Jack Monroe of making a fortune from the poor. That Jack Monroe, the one who took Kate Hopkins to the cleaners for tens of thousands of pounds in a libel action.

Jack is now going to sue him. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...r-lee-anderson

Sorry to disappoint you, but Lee Anderson has far more supporters than critics. He was making a point in that far too many people in the lower bracket of earnings are incapable of cooking for themselves or are too lazy to do do.

How many younger people do you see in a supermarket buying basic foods to make a meal out of? The greater majority spend far more time in the 'Ready Meals' section. Or purchasing take away meals? These are far more costly and less nutritious than home cooked food.

Yes, you can make a meal for 30p. Baked Potato with a topping, for instance, mash, veg and cheese, etc., But more common is around 60p per head meat and two veg.

Against a take away Pizza = £5. Fish and chips = £7. Ready Made Meals £3.

[bensherman]

Sorry to disappoint you, but Lee Anderson has far more supporters than critics. He was making a point in that far too many people in the lower bracket of earnings are incapable of cooking for themselves or are too lazy to do do.

How many younger people do you see in a supermarket buying basic foods to make a meal out of? The greater majority spend far more time in the 'Ready Meals' section. Or purchasing take away meals? These are far more costly and less nutritious than home cooked food.

Yes, you can make a meal for 30p. Baked Potato with a topping, for instance, mash, veg and cheese, etc., But more common is around 60p per head meat and two veg.

Against a take away Pizza = £5. Fish and chips = £7. Ready Made Meals £3.

Can you tell us how you know he has more supporters than critics?
Apparently you agree with him but that doesn't mean you are in a majority.
It seems unlikely to me.
Yes of course more education would be a good thing.
But put his remarks in context.
We are the fifth wealthiest country in the world ( although when the Tories have finished perhaps not).
We now have more foodbanks than branches of McDonalds.
A few days ago a Tory MP and the local Tory Mayor had themselves photo'd cutting the ribbon to open a new foodbank. There was even, irony on ironies, a buffet...
There is no way we should need them. And foodbanks are not giving out ready meals.

[Dirac]

Can you tell us how you know he has more supporters than critics?
Apparently you agree with him but that doesn't mean you are in a majority.
It seems unlikely to me.
Yes of course more education would be a good thing.
But put his remarks in context.
We are the fifth wealthiest country in the world ( although when the Tories have finished perhaps not).
We now have more foodbanks than branches of McDonalds.
A few days ago a Tory MP and the local Tory Mayor had themselves photo'd cutting the ribbon to open a new foodbank. There was even, irony on ironies, a buffet...
There is no way we should need them. And foodbanks are not giving out ready meals.

Said posting a fact-free reply? Surely not...

The placing of blame on people who end up with literally no money to buy food is despicable. Jack Monroe has been in that position herself and now tries to support people who are truly in dire economic straits.

Anderson is seen on a video saying that she is making money out of these vulnerable people, when she gives away books, booklets and recipes to help people cope.

Libel.

By the way, I don't think they take popularity into account in a libel court.

I suppose we'll find out in good time...

[Dirac]

I quite like this letter in the Times. Seems like a good idea to me.

[Alikado]

I quite like this letter in the Times. Seems like a good idea to me.

Even stealing the ingredients it would be nigh on impossible to produce a meal for 30p per head, family of 4 £1.20 I think not.

A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Foodbanks were saying that people were requesting that they were not to be given spuds as they couldn't afford to cook them.

[Dirac]

Originally Posted by said
Sorry to disappoint you, but Lee Anderson has far more supporters than critics. He was making a point in that far too many people in the lower bracket of earnings are incapable of cooking for themselves or are too lazy to do do.

How many younger people do you see in a supermarket buying basic foods to make a meal out of? The greater majority spend far more time in the 'Ready Meals' section. Or purchasing take away meals? These are far more costly and less nutritious than home cooked food.

Yes, you can make a meal for 30p. Baked Potato with a topping, for instance, mash, veg and cheese, etc., But more common is around 60p per head meat and two veg.

Against a take away Pizza = £5. Fish and chips = £7. Ready Made Meals £3.



said's post is the classic reply to this sort of problem.
Let me explain.

1 - the idea of baked potato with cheese being a nutritious meal is self-evidently stupid. No drink, no fruit, definitely nowhere near RDAs for almost anything you care to mention.

2 - one loose baking potato is 25p in Tesco. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-G...ucts/253558183 83% of your budget gone on one item. Topping costs extra.

3 - you need to get to a store to buy it. Travel costs money. If you shop locally, it will nearly always cost more.

4 - How can you bake it for nothing? You need - an electricity supply, a cooker/microwave. You have to pay for the energy to bake it.

So, no you can't make a 30p meal from scratch - you need to have invested in lots of other costs.

Real life is extremely tough for an increasing number of people.

Lee Anderson isn't one of them. We pay him £25 a day for his food.

We really need a GE.

[said]

Said posting a fact-free reply? Surely not...

The placing of blame on people who end up with literally no money to buy food is despicable. Jack Monroe has been in that position herself and now tries to support people who are truly in dire economic straits.

Anderson is seen on a video saying that she is making money out of these vulnerable people, when she gives away books, booklets and recipes to help people cope.

Libel.

By the way, I don't think they take popularity into account in a libel court.

I suppose we'll find out in good time...

A young couple with two young children living outside of London qualify for £426.14p, per week, on a rent of 500 per month paid, and neither parent working. This is about £22,000 per year - more if one parent was working. Compared to a single male working in town, 30 hours per week which is about £15,500 per year.

22,000 less rent = 16,000, less bills = 14,000 for food and clothing.
And they cannot manage? A pensioner receives about £8,400 per year and has to pay for medical necessities as well.

Poverty is comparative. Compare poverty in the UK with say poverty in Africa - they are not the same. UK poverty means having nowhere to live, having no money at all - that does not happen, anyone in that situation with children are soon housed. African children - tough!

What do you mean by 'Poverty'?

[said]

Originally Posted by said
Sorry to disappoint you, but Lee Anderson has far more supporters than critics. He was making a point in that far too many people in the lower bracket of earnings are incapable of cooking for themselves or are too lazy to do do.

How many younger people do you see in a supermarket buying basic foods to make a meal out of? The greater majority spend far more time in the 'Ready Meals' section. Or purchasing take away meals? These are far more costly and less nutritious than home cooked food.

Yes, you can make a meal for 30p. Baked Potato with a topping, for instance, mash, veg and cheese, etc., But more common is around 60p per head meat and two veg.

Against a take away Pizza = £5. Fish and chips = £7. Ready Made Meals £3.



said's post is the classic reply to this sort of problem.
Let me explain.

1 - the idea of baked potato with cheese being a nutritious meal is self-evidently stupid. No drink, no fruit, definitely nowhere near RDAs for almost anything you care to mention.

2 - one loose baking potato is 25p in Tesco. https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-G...ucts/253558183 83% of your budget gone on one item. Topping costs extra.

3 - you need to get to a store to buy it. Travel costs money. If you shop locally, it will nearly always cost more.

4 - How can you bake it for nothing? You need - an electricity supply, a cooker/microwave. You have to pay for the energy to bake it.

So, no you can't make a 30p meal from scratch - you need to have invested in lots of other costs.

Real life is extremely tough for an increasing number of people.

Lee Anderson isn't one of them. We pay him £25 a day for his food.

We really need a GE.

It is you who make the classic mistake:

1. A family does not buy potatoes singly, nor cook them singly. One potato may cost 25p - but a sack of them costs £4. This makes one potato a few coppers.
2, Supermarkets are within walking distance, but sacks of potatoes are usually delivered by the local greengrocer.
3. It costs 7p to cook on electricity, and 2p for boiling the potatoes first.
4. A family does not purchase single items. A can of beans is 25p, one can for four potatoes, block of cheese £3 one block provides about forty slices. Milk for drinking costs £1.20 for 2 Litres, sufficient for about 16 drinks.
5. A bag of 6 apples £1.25.
6. Four large oranges £1.80
7. 1 Cauliflower 86p
8. 1 Kilo Carrots 49p.

As I claimed - a meal can be made for 30p - but more generally 60p as I have proved.

A young family of four living outside of London are eligible for £22,000 approximately. After rent and utility bills, this leaves about £14,000 for food and clothing (about £280 per week, or £40 per day)

[local]

A young couple with two young children living outside of London qualify for £426.14p, per week, on a rent of 500 per month paid, and neither parent working. This is about £22,000 per year - more if one parent was working. Compared to a single male working in town, 30 hours per week which is about £15,500 per year.

22,000 less rent = 16,000, less bills = 14,000 for food and clothing.
And they cannot manage? A pensioner receives about £8,400 per year and has to pay for medical necessities as well.

Poverty is comparative. Compare poverty in the UK with say poverty in Africa - they are not the same. UK poverty means having nowhere to live, having no money at all - that does not happen, anyone in that situation with children are soon housed. African children - tough!

What do you mean by 'Poverty'?

I have to plead ignorance on this Prof but are these figures correct and do you have a link for benefit levels and what other discounts etc you can get.


As I can't imagine many people around here wanting to work for £9.50 PH.

[said]

Even stealing the ingredients it would be nigh on impossible to produce a meal for 30p per head, family of 4 £1.20 I think not.

A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Foodbanks were saying that people were requesting that they were not to be given spuds as they couldn't afford to cook them.

'....it was reported...' So 2500 Foodbanks are all reporting that people did not want potatoes because 'they could not afford to cook them' You have to give it to those reporters, they have managed to add to the fuel crisis without blinking. Are we to understand then, that these people were requesting Ready Made hot meals? Why are they at a food bank at all - they cannot afford to cook anything if the report is correct.

Please people - don't just read a report and accept it on face value, think about it, otherwise you are being pulled in, hook, line and sinker.

[Toodles McGinty]

It is you who make the classic mistake:

1. A family does not buy potatoes singly, nor cook them singly. One potato may cost 25p - but a sack of them costs £4. This makes one potato a few coppers.

Where do you go to get a sack of potatoes for £4? A sack of baking potatoes? Where?

2, Supermarkets are within walking distance, but sacks of potatoes are usually delivered by the local greengrocer.

How many people have local greengrocers, never mind those that deliver? For £4? I'll give that place a punt. Where is it?

3. It costs 7p to cook on electricity, and 2p for boiling the potatoes first.

Are you out of your mind? 7p to cook a baked potato? Give over. In 1960 maybe.

4. A family does not purchase single items. A can of beans is 25p, one can for four potatoes, block of cheese £3 one block provides about forty slices. Milk for drinking costs £1.20 for 2 Litres, sufficient for about 16 drinks.

One can of beans for 4 potatoes? So basically just potato. 40 slices of cheese from one block? Do you shave it?

16 drinks from 2 litres? Of what - builder's tea? How many kids drink that?

5. A bag of 6 apples £1.25.
6. Four large oranges £1.80

Fair enough, from an Aldi or Lidl, if you have one nearby.

7. 1 Cauliflower 86p
8. 1 Kilo Carrots 49p.

You've not bought a cauli for a while. For 86p they are the size of snooker balls. Wouldn't feed one person.

As things stand, unless you've a handy farm shop next door, potatoes are full of black marks when you peel them. And I do mean all of them, from the premium ranges to budget spuds. Carrots last about a day before they turn to mush. I'd be happy to know why.

As I claimed - a meal can be made for 30p - but more generally 60p as I have proved.

So this family of four live near a greengrocer from the 1960s, with gas bills from the 1970s, they have baked potatoes without butter / spread, 6 beans and a see through slice of cheese. I'll assume this is accompanied by raw carrots and a bit of raw cauli the size of a quarter snooker ball. As there were no costings for cooking those. And a cup of builders tea, even the toddlers, or a tablespoonful of fresh milk.

Sounds delightful.

A young family of four living outside of London are eligible for £22,000 approximately. After rent and utility bills, this leaves about £14,000 for food and clothing (about £280 per week, or £40 per day)

My gas & electric has risen to £3000 a year for a two bed flat. Taking that as a baseline, if a family of 4 have £14k for food and clothing, they are paying less than £100 a week rent.

You haven't got the first clue.

[said]

I have to plead ignorance on this Prof but are these figures correct and do you have a link for benefit levels and what other discounts etc you can get.


As I can't imagine many people around here wanting to work for £9.50 PH.

Yes, I just signed in as a benefit seeker family two adults and two children -that is what I was quoted.

For a single worker I rounded up the earnings to £10. Many younger people 16/17 year olds, are on less than that amount, but living with parents. Apprentices also earn less.

Adults familiar with the system and know how it works can obtain more money while those who are not so bright have the worst deal of the lot - they are the ones you should have sympathy for.

Empty causes make the most noise! But there are those who are slow workers, who do not know if they have the right to protest, are made to work hardest for the least money. Consequently, they live in cheap accommodation which they cannot afford to heat. Some manage to get short summer term contracts in Hotels and live in comparable comfort, or in the Holiday Camps. They have little money and know they have to save for deposits for lodging when the season finishes or they move from place to place sleeping on the sofas of other like people - they live hand to mouth constantly.

Where others have difficulty in finding employment in the UK, these people find employment easily because they accept any work on any pay. Which in a way is good, because otherwise they are unemployable - employers only take on people who can deal with the public -not those who shy away from people. You do not hear about the thousands of these people, they are not news worthy, they do not complain, they do not sit on the streets begging - they just live the best way they can.

[Toodles McGinty]

'....it was reported...' So 2500 Foodbanks are all reporting that people did not want potatoes because 'they could not afford to cook them' You have to give it to those reporters, they have managed to add to the fuel crisis without blinking. Are we to understand then, that these people were requesting Ready Made hot meals? Why are they at a food bank at all - they cannot afford to cook anything if the report is correct.

Please people - don't just read a report and accept it on face value, think about it, otherwise you are being pulled in, hook, line and sinker.

That has been reported across the media. The boss of Iceland has reported the same. The Trussell Trust says the same. Some foodbanks are asking for donations of slow cookers, as they are far more economical to use than a regular cooker.

They aren't requesting ready made meals, it's root veg that takes time to cook. Gas & electric costs are astronomical, and will rise again later this year. There are over a million families in poverty. And rising daily.

Go work at a foodbank for a week, then tell us how all the media is lying.

'Pulled in hook, line and sinker', by someone who thinks US school shootings are faked, and who thinks people are being slaughtered in Ukraine on the CIA's say so.

Right.

[Toodles McGinty]

Yes, I just signed in as a benefit seeker family two adults and two children -that is what I was quoted.

For a single worker I rounded up the earnings to £10. Many younger people 16/17 year olds, are on less than that amount, but living with parents. Apprentices also earn less.

Adults familiar with the system and know how it works can obtain more money while those who are not so bright have the worst deal of the lot - they are the ones you should have sympathy for.

Empty causes make the most noise! But there are those who are slow workers, who do not know if they have the right to protest, are made to work hardest for the least money. Consequently, they live in cheap accommodation which they cannot afford to heat. Some manage to get short summer term contracts in Hotels and live in comparable comfort, or in the Holiday Camps. They have little money and know they have to save for deposits for lodging when the season finishes or they move from place to place sleeping on the sofas of other like people - they live hand to mouth constantly.

Where others have difficulty in finding employment in the UK, these people find employment easily because they accept any work on any pay. Which in a way is good, because otherwise they are unemployable - employers only take on people who can deal with the public -not those who shy away from people. You do not hear about the thousands of these people, they are not news worthy, they do not complain, they do not sit on the streets begging - they just live the best way they can.

World class fückwit.