Labour Caught Out Telling Porkies Again

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 11:31 am

The House of Commons last night voted through reforms to Universal Credit (which Labour opposes in principle). As is now normal with a crucial vote, Labour instigated a co-ordinated outrage storm when their statutory instrument failed…

https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/973645957773619201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Forder-order.com%2F&tfw_site=guidofawkes

https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Forder-order.com%2F

Rayner told the House:

“1 million children growing up in poverty will lose out on free school meals that they would have been entitled to. “

Earlier in his response to the Spring Statement, John McDonnell had claimed:

“Today the Government are even trying to deprive 1 million children of a decent school dinner.”

Awkwardly for Labour, fact checking organisations have probed that one million claim and found it wanting. A Channel 4 investigation found:

“No one who is currently eligible for free school meals under Universal Credit will lose their entitlement. In fact, under Universal Credit, 50,000 more children will receive school meals by 2022 than would have done under the previous benefits system.
This is not a case of the government taking free school meals from a million children who are currently receiving them: it’s about comparing two future, hypothetical scenarios. Both of them are more generous than the old benefits system.”

That didn’t stop ‘get on your knees, b*tch’ Clive Lewis calling Esther McVey:

“Meaner even than the master in Oliver Twist’s workhouse… [she] seeks not just to stop the second helping, but to stop any meal at all.”

This is why people hate politicians, because they are industrial scale liars. Labour again willing to weaponise the anxiety of poor families…

https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Forder-order.com%2F

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:27 pm

Whatever twitface has said above, here is the truth:

The government’s plans to push through changes to free school meals entitlement, childcare vouchers and free childcare for two-year-olds without a vote in parliament were recently thrown into disarray by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner. She has been granted a three-hour debate and series of votes on the changes after chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring statement on 13 March.

While the rollout of universal credit has got underway, the children of parents who receive it have been entitled to free school meals. Were this to continue, it would have ensured almost all children living in poverty, including those in low income working families, would have received a guaranteed school lunch every day. However, the government now intends to introduce a net household earnings threshold of £7,400 (£18,000 to £24,000 a year including benefits).

We estimate that 1 million school children – largely in working families – will be affected by the government’s plans. Once a family with one child passes the £7,400 mark, they would need to earn an extra £1,000 a year, working 2.4 hours more each week at the national living wage, to cover the cost. Our past research (pdf) has also found loss of free school meals is a major disincentive to work, with six out of 10 parents admitting it has an impact on their decision to move into work or take on additional hours. For many, the alternative – finding the extra money – is nothing short of an impossible task.

One mum told us that after she’d started work, and lost free school meals for her son, she sometimes had to send him to school with just a bread roll for lunchtime. We hear of children staying behind while their class goes on a school trip, mothers going without winter coats, or fathers living on toast for dinner, so that they can cover the cost. Bringing up children on a low income is a fine balancing act each and every day. Having a guaranteed, healthy lunch at school is nothing short of a lifeline.

The government’s proposal will not impact children in reception, year 1 and year 2 who are part of the universal infant free school meal programme, which was introduced by the coalition government in 2013. We had launched our Fair and Square campaign in 2012, calling for all children in low-income households to benefit, and were pleased with the progress this significant step forward a year later. But many older children are still missing out.

One of the barriers we have faced with our ongoing campaign has been that many people, including MPs, wrongly believe that all children in poverty already get free school meals. In fact, before universal credit was introduced, it was only children in families claiming out of work benefits who qualified, meaning hundreds of thousands of children in struggling working families missed out. Working poverty is on the rise in the UK, with 67% of the 4 million children in poverty now from working families, and they will make up the majority of 5 million children set to be in poverty by 2020.

Not only would broadening access to free school meals this way reach more children in poverty, it would also play an important role in tackling the stigma. Headteachers from primary schools have told us the universal offer for infants has been fantastic in bringing children together at lunchtimes.

Schools, charities and local authorities understand the important role free school meals play – in North Lanarkshire, the council plans to provide free meals to children who need them 365 days a year to combat holiday and weekend hunger. Food banks have reported that demand doubles during school holidays, and a survey by the National Union of Teachers in England, found a third of teachers said pupils returned to school with signs of malnourishment after a break.

Last year, a cross-party group of MPs and peers recognised that up to 3 million children are at risk of going hungry during the school holidays, undermining their education and life chances. That included 1 million children that received free school meals and 2 million who did not but whose families are in working poverty. Faced with that evidence, the provision of free school meals should be expanding, not taken away from those that need it most.

Here is a golden opportunity to tip what is an increasingly precarious balancing act ever so slightly in struggling families’ favour.

Sam Royston is the director of policy and research at The Children’s Society.

https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2018/mar/13/one-million-children-hungry-new-plans-free-school-meals

To the Government's eternal shame, not only did they vote to allow this iniquity, but May bought of the DUP to keep them on side by making it non applicable in Norther Ireland. They are truly disgusting.

Voting was as follows:

Voting was as follows For: Lab 238 Lib Dem 8 Plaid Cymru 3 Independent 4 Green 1 Against: Tory 302 DUP 9 Independent 1 *SNP not able to vote (EVEL) English Votes English Laws rule applied.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings takes on a whole new meaning.

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:29 pm

I see sassy is still a gullible idiot

Again proving Labour was lying

“It is an absolute scandal that the Conservatives are pressing ahead with a plan that could leave over a million children without a hot meal in schools.”

That was the claim from Labour’s shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, last week.

But it’s not quite the full story. Here’s why.

Who gets a free school meal?
Children in England who are in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are all entitled to free school meals. That’s not changing. Where it gets complicated is when we look at what happens from Year 3 onwards.

Since 2013, the government has been rolling out Universal Credit, replacing the old benefits system. Some areas, like Croydon, have already switched; others are still waiting.

Under the old system, children are entitled to free school meals if their parents receive an out of work benefit like Jobseekers’ Allowance. They only lose their entitlement once their parent or parents start working 16 hours a week (if there’s one adult in the house), or 24 hours a week (if there are two).

While the government have been rolling out the new benefit system, they’ve relaxed the eligibility rules so that all families receiving Universal Credit have been entitled to free school meals, regardless of income or hours worked.

This month, the government announced that they’re going to introduce a means test so that if you’re on Universal Credit and you’re earning more than £7,400 from work, your children will no longer be entitled to free school meals if they’re in Year 3 or above.

The government estimates: “A typical family earning around this threshold, depending on their exact circumstances, would have a total annual household income of between £18,000 and £24,000 once benefits are taken into account.”

Here’s why Labour are partly right
Labour told us they used figures from the Children’s Society to calculate their claim that the government’s planned changes would leave “over a million children without a hot meal in schools.”

A spokesperson for the charity explained that if the government continued to allow every family on Universal Credit to receive free school meals, 2.8 million children would be entitled.

We know that only about 65 per cent of children who are eligible for free school meals actually take them up. (Often because parents don’t realise their children are entitled.) On that basis, they would expect about 1.8 million children to take up free school meals in England if everyone on Universal Credit was eligible.

The government’s plan to introduce a means test to free school meals will reduce the total number of children who are entitled to free school meals to 1 million. Assuming a 65 per cent take up rate, that means only about 650,000 children will be getting a free hot meal at school.

In short: if everyone on Universal Credit were entitled to free school meals, then by the time it was rolled out across the country, 1.8 million children would have a free school meal every day. The new means test will see only about 650,000 children on free school meals. That’s a difference of just over a million.

Here’s why Labour aren’t telling the whole story
We can’t fault the maths. But it’s important to give context to Labour’s claim.

This is not a case of the government taking free school meals from a million children who are currently receiving them. It’s about comparing two future, hypothetical scenarios, one of which is more generous than the other.

The Department of Education has made clear that no one who currently gets free school meals as part of the early rollout of Universal Credit will lose their entitlement once the rollout is complete. The people who will be subject to the means test are future Universal Credit claimants.

It’s also worth pointing out that the government has never said that the policy of allowing everyone on Universal Credit to access free school meals would be permanent.

In April 2013, the then-junior skills minister, Matthew Hancock, told Parliament that the government would look carefully at the “marginal withdrawal rate” of benefits like free school meals. In other words: the government anticipated that free school meals could be subject to some form of means or eligibility test, once Universal Credit was fully rolled out.

In July 2017, junior education minister, Robert Goodwill, said “As an interim measure, all pupils whose parents are in receipt of UC [Universal Credit] are currently entitled to FSM [free school meals].” The key word here is “interim.”

And perhaps the most important piece of context to bring to Labour’s claim is that more children will be entitled to free school meals under Universal Credit than under the previous benefits system.

The Department for Education says: “we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.”

It’s worth saying that Labour would go much further: at the last election, they pledged to give all primary school children a free school meal.

Although the Institute for Fiscal Studies said such a plan would cost upwards of £950 million a year, and other policies, such as free breakfast clubs “might be a cheaper and more effective way to improve both education and health outcomes.”

FactCheck verdict
There’s some respectable maths behind Labour’s claim that a million children will lose out on free school meals after the government introduces a means test.

But they haven’t mentioned two key points:

No one who is currently eligible for free school meals under Universal Credit will lose their entitlement.
In fact, under Universal Credit, 50,000 more children will receive school meals by 2022 than would have done under the previous benefits system.
This is not a case of the government taking free school meals from a million children who are currently receiving them: it’s about comparing two future, hypothetical scenarios. Both of them are more generous than the old benefits system.

Additional reporting by Sam Ellison.

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-labour-arent-telling-the-full-story-about-free-school-meals

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:34 pm

sassy wrote:Whatever twitface has said above, here is the truth:

The government’s plans to push through changes to free school meals entitlement, childcare vouchers and free childcare for two-year-olds without a vote in parliament were recently thrown into disarray by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner. She has been granted a three-hour debate and series of votes on the changes after chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring statement on 13 March.

While the rollout of universal credit has got underway, the children of parents who receive it have been entitled to free school meals. Were this to continue, it would have ensured almost all children living in poverty, including those in low income working families, would have received a guaranteed school lunch every day. However, the government now intends to introduce a net household earnings threshold of £7,400 (£18,000 to £24,000 a year including benefits).

We estimate that 1 million school children – largely in working families – will be affected by the government’s plans. Once a family with one child passes the £7,400 mark, they would need to earn an extra £1,000 a year, working 2.4 hours more each week at the national living wage, to cover the cost. Our past research (pdf) has also found loss of free school meals is a major disincentive to work, with six out of 10 parents admitting it has an impact on their decision to move into work or take on additional hours. For many, the alternative – finding the extra money – is nothing short of an impossible task.

One mum told us that after she’d started work, and lost free school meals for her son, she sometimes had to send him to school with just a bread roll for lunchtime. We hear of children staying behind while their class goes on a school trip, mothers going without winter coats, or fathers living on toast for dinner, so that they can cover the cost. Bringing up children on a low income is a fine balancing act each and every day. Having a guaranteed, healthy lunch at school is nothing short of a lifeline.

The government’s proposal will not impact children in reception, year 1 and year 2 who are part of the universal infant free school meal programme, which was introduced by the coalition government in 2013. We had launched our Fair and Square campaign in 2012, calling for all children in low-income households to benefit, and were pleased with the progress this significant step forward a year later. But many older children are still missing out.

One of the barriers we have faced with our ongoing campaign has been that many people, including MPs, wrongly believe that all children in poverty already get free school meals. In fact, before universal credit was introduced, it was only children in families claiming out of work benefits who qualified, meaning hundreds of thousands of children in struggling working families missed out. Working poverty is on the rise in the UK, with 67% of the 4 million children in poverty now from working families, and they will make up the majority of 5 million children set to be in poverty by 2020.

Not only would broadening access to free school meals this way reach more children in poverty, it would also play an important role in tackling the stigma. Headteachers from primary schools have told us the universal offer for infants has been fantastic in bringing children together at lunchtimes.

Schools, charities and local authorities understand the important role free school meals play – in North Lanarkshire, the council plans to provide free meals to children who need them 365 days a year to combat holiday and weekend hunger. Food banks have reported that demand doubles during school holidays, and a survey by the National Union of Teachers in England, found a third of teachers said pupils returned to school with signs of malnourishment after a break.

Last year, a cross-party group of MPs and peers recognised that up to 3 million children are at risk of going hungry during the school holidays, undermining their education and life chances. That included 1 million children that received free school meals and 2 million who did not but whose families are in working poverty. Faced with that evidence, the provision of free school meals should be expanding, not taken away from those that need it most.

Here is a golden opportunity to tip what is an increasingly precarious balancing act ever so slightly in struggling families’ favour.

Sam Royston is the director of policy and research at The Children’s Society.

https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2018/mar/13/one-million-children-hungry-new-plans-free-school-meals

To the Government's eternal shame, not only did they vote to allow this iniquity, but May bought of the DUP to keep them on side by making it non applicable in Norther Ireland. They are truly disgusting.

Voting was as follows:

Voting was as follows For: Lab 238 Lib Dem 8 Plaid Cymru 3 Independent 4 Green 1 Against: Tory 302 DUP 9 Independent 1 *SNP not able to vote (EVEL) English Votes English Laws rule applied.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings takes on a whole new meaning.

I'll take the word of the Director of the Children's Society any day..

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:35 pm

So that is a whopping 35% who are eligible and do not even use free school meals, rubbishing the claim about poverty.

Which is a joke to say people are in poverty in the UK, that is not real poverty by any stretch of the imagination.

Again people should get rid on unecessary material objects, if they think their children need to be fed.

That means, get a pay as you go phone, no TV, computer, Laptop, i-phone, sky-tv, two cars etc

by eddie Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:44 pm

Sassy you can hardly debate didge’s posts if you have him on ignore. You’re pretty much just on a thread, alone, making your points to someone who’s reply you can’t read.

Sorta dumb.

by Guest Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:48 pm

eddie wrote:Sassy you can hardly debate didge’s posts if you have him on ignore. You’re pretty much just on a thread, alone, making your points to someone who’s reply you can’t read.

Sorta dumb.

Its okay, all can see channel four fact checked this and showed Labour were telling porkies

This is not the first time either.

Remember the fake news they claimed around animal sentience?

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