Marcus Rashford letter

Good lad - pat on the back from me.

Well can we have Narcus a Rashford in place of Cummings he seems to have a kind heart and good sense

Can we still really be discussing the deserving and the undeserving poor in 2020?

lemongrove how on earth do you justify the fact that Johnson ( or should I say Cummins the puppet master) wasn’t listening in the first place? Some things you should just know, not have to be told. An open goal which says the utter failure in no 10

suziewoozie absolutely! I find it hard to believe that even this government could be so crass that it couldn’t see what was the right thing to do. Surely even if they were blind their PR people would have told them they were shooting themselves in the foot! The cost is just a drop in the ocean compared the the sail lions already sloshing about.

I really don't think this U-turn is as a result of listening - they were embarrassed into it.

In the press briefing just now, the PM was asked how come it took a 22 year old footballer to change your mind - of course he just waffled about how he congratulated Marcus Rashford and that we must protect the kids in need.

He really has exposed his true nature, yet again.

JenniferE please provide where you obtained the information that millions of children are born to parents who were just using the system. Not all children are planned, my certainly weren't, due to a failure of the pill while on antibiotics. Oh to be so perfect.

Just heard a mother on Radio 4 talking to Evan Davies - she was articulate and able to explain well that she has totally lost her job, not furloughed, never relied on such relief before but was now in need.

She was grateful to Rashford for getting it sorted, having already written to Gavin Williamson, the PM, and her MP, to no avail.

Another interesting fact from the mother on Radio 4 - the voucher scheme is operated by a company.

I wonder how much their fee is, and did the contract go to tender?

Riverwalk There are about a million people in that situation. Many of them have children and have never claimed any kind of benefit before. There are massive holes in the support the government is giving people. This is a completely new experience for them. They most certainly aren't using the system - and I doubt if many others are either. Sh*t can happen to anybody!

No, it didn't go out to tender Riverwalk. I've forgotten the name of the company, but it had never had any experience in delivering vouchers, which is why there were initially so many delays. There are limits on where they can be spent, so people were saying there weren't any of those particular supermarkets where they lived and they couldn't spend the voucher sin discount shops.

An amazing young man. His Mum should be very proud of what he has achieved.

Seems Boris agrees with Rashford in the end.
He listens.
He didn’t say ‘no’.
?

I see Johnson lied about not knowing about the issue until today.

^How many of us on here planned our families years ago according to our finances?
I would guess most^

What then has changed over the past few decades to explain this shift in a sense of personal responsibility?

I would hazard a guess here.
There’s no ‘shame’ these days in being a single mum.
Not like the early 70’s.
That’s progress in itself and probably a ‘good thing’ of itself.

But with choice comes responsibility surely?

When did the ‘state’ become ‘the daddy’?

When daddies were given the choice to opt out?

There has always been free school meals during holidays in my part of Scotland when I was at primary school I sed to walk with my friend every day to get her lunch.This was a state catholic shool and on Holidays of obligation there were packed lunches handed out as the dinnerladies/cooks had that holiday too.
Now its vouchers for a cheap shop or straight into a bank account in areas where there isn't a Farmfoods or Iceland theres also a system like the children have with their credit card that puts the money into a card in the parents name so it can be spent in a selection of local shops

Oh why, oh why did Boris say he knew nothing about the issue until today? He needs to get a better PR company, he's losing credibility on a daily basis.

Whatever the reason families end up in poverty, why would anyone think the children should suffer?

Prompted by the announcement that DFID is to be merged with the Foreign Office I wonder how many here might be thinking this would be a good way to cut back on overseas aid.
Many a time I have read on GN that 'charity begins at home'!
Are they the same posters who begrudge poor children in large families the support they need over the summer holidays?
Or for some reason don't they count as being 'at home'?

Curly Johnson ( please not Boris) is a pathological liar in exactly the same league as Trump.

Don't be silly mcem! It has to be your own home!

We planned our first child after 7 years of marriage and when I was 37. We both had good jobs and I still ended up as a single parent and my children received free school meals at one stage.

There are plenty of women on here who've spent most of their lives relying on a man to keep them. Strangely enough, they're often the most vocal about single mother "scroungers".

Sh*t really does happen!

PS. I know there are plenty of other women who have worked hard.

lemongrove your summer dinners sound horrendous, I’m not surprised you quit to spend time in the park. At Junior School everyone mixed together paid for or free.

At Secondary the did the same - gave a white ticket for paid and purple for free. Had to go to the office every day to get the ticket. Highly embarrassing.

I used to work for the neighbours, tidying gardens, cleaning their brass and got paid 50p a time. (1978) If I did 5 jobs over the weekend I earnt £2.50 which I used for lunches for the week. Then realised you could sell your free meal ticket for half price so had an extra 25p most days.

I spent that on a ‘punch board’ thing in the sweet shop. You had a silver pin thing and pushed a silver dot, where a paper appeared from the back of the board. If it matched a number on the front you won whatever the prize was.

I remember going there one day with my 25p (5p a go) and winning a swing bin and 400 cigarettes which I proudly presented to my Mum when I got home. (There wasn’t anything in the shops about under age smoking back then, and Mum was highly delighted with her new bin. The cigarettes were used for birthday and Christmas presents) ?

Suziewoozie I know, but the lies need to be believable, he's just making a fool of himself.