Tory MP blames food bank use on people not knowing how to cook or budge

Skydancer

Nobody has mentioned one of the biggest problems facing a lot of people people which is that so much of their income often goes in rent. Rents should be capped.

I think somebody did mention it a few days ago and I agree. Food prices aren't the reason people can't afford to eat healthily. Rents and other costs and low income are. The issue is that people can't avoid paying rent or council tax. However, they can save on fuel and food costs. Depending on how much they have left, that could mean living in a cold property, not being able to afford to cook or wash in warm water or cutting the amount available for food to practically nothing. People don't generally donate to pay fuel bills, but it's not difficult to persuade them to drop a packet or tin in a food collecting point.

So many people are lazy and can’t be bothered to cook, so order takeaways.
There was a T.V programme yesterday trying to sort couples finances out and save them some money.
Of course, one couple lived on takeaways sometimes twice daily and also bought numerous bottles of Pepsi cola. Simple tweaks like using a soda stream to make your own drinks etc.

All the T.V people had to do or say was cut back on everything.

It beggars belief that some people spend recklessly and then wonder why they don’t have very much left at the end of the month.

How many people live like this? Are they the poorest?

How long did it take the TV producers to find the family on the programme? I guess it made good TV for the smug and gullible!

Ffs!
I just can't stop reading all this tripe, even though I need to.

JdotJ

Schools used to teach these things so yes, why not!

There is a list of foods to be given at Foodbanks which we adhere to. One being Tea Bags, another Rice/Pasta.
In my experience the ones given to the client are handed back as 'not the ones wanted'

In the 1930s one of the subjects on my father's report was Electricity. Would anyone suggest we go back to teaching that?

I saw the takeaway-and-pepsi program.

They weren't exactly trying to sort out their finances, they were thing to save them £3,000 a year so that they could move to Brighton. Neither that couple nor the family before them on the program were on the breadline, as far as I could see.

Greciangirl

So many people are lazy and can’t be bothered to cook, so order takeaways.
There was a T.V programme yesterday trying to sort couples finances out and save them some money.
Of course, one couple lived on takeaways sometimes twice daily and also bought numerous bottles of Pepsi cola. Simple tweaks like using a soda stream to make your own drinks etc.

All the T.V people had to do or say was cut back on everything.

It beggars belief that some people spend recklessly and then wonder why they don’t have very much left at the end of the month.

Oh another of those silly ‘reality’ shows. The producers scour the land looking for people they can humiliate for entertainment.
Some participants play up for the cameras.
To suggest these people represent the majority is nonsense

Absolutely and totally impossible to buy 2 takeaways a day whilst on benefits.
A sodastream is bloody expensive, too.

Greciangirl

So many people are lazy and can’t be bothered to cook, so order takeaways.
There was a T.V programme yesterday trying to sort couples finances out and save them some money.
Of course, one couple lived on takeaways sometimes twice daily and also bought numerous bottles of Pepsi cola. Simple tweaks like using a soda stream to make your own drinks etc.

All the T.V people had to do or say was cut back on everything.

It beggars belief that some people spend recklessly and then wonder why they don’t have very much left at the end of the month.

Are you for real?

Oops, apologies to greciangirl.
You didn't say the people were on benefits. sorry!

volver

I saw the takeaway-and-pepsi program.

They weren't exactly trying to sort out their finances, they were thing to save them £3,000 a year so that they could move to Brighton. Neither that couple nor the family before them on the program were on the breadline, as far as I could see.

Ahh! That puts it into some kind of context. A single person receiving Universal Credit gets £4018.92 a year. It would be interesting to see how the programme could help somebody in that situation save £3,000.

Perhaps you would find it shocking to hear that some people cannot afford to heat the water to cook pasta and rice.
It's so easy to criticise when you are not walking in someone elses shoes.

I assume it was "Secret Spenders". Even the Mail was critical of it and claimed it was out of touch. (Must be bad!) One of the participants earns £5,000 a month, which is a far cry from the people who are forced to use food banks. As far as I'm concerned, if people earning £60k a year wants to spend the money on takeaways and Pepsi, they have a perfect right to do so.

55 years ago a friend volunteered at St Mungo's in central London. She often talked about the people and I still remember her telling us about 1 man, a chef I think. He'd been ill for a few months and consequently lost his job. He couldn't pay the mortgage and he and his wife split up. He ended up on the streets.

I've always remembered this and thought "there but for the grace of God..."

Before covid we went to Covent Garden. Walking back to Charing Cross we saw several people settling down for the night in shop doorways. I hadn't seen that for a long time.

The poor and unfortunate are, and no doubt always will be, with us and they should not be denigrated in the way that they are in the media.

People can always find someone on benefits who's fiddling the system and hold them up as examples of what's wrong. Those people are very few and far between. The vast majority of people on benefits are struggling, through no fault of their own and anybody who says otherwise should take some time to think and not be so smug. It could so easily be you or a member of your family.

Hi witzend - apparently a landlord now has to pay tax (20% or 40% depending on income) on the whole amount of the rent, instead of just claiming the outstanding balance against tax, so a rent of £1.000 a month with a 50% mortgage, now has to pay tax of either £200.00 or £400.00 instead of £100 and £200 a month - hence the difference
I think in 2026 every private landlord ( not commercial) has to upgrade his property to energy level C - this will put up rents yet again.
Haven’t heard these facts mentioned anywhere in the media, when mentioning rent rises - think this is why so many landlords are selling up - a lot of families where I live have been given eviction papers, even thou rent paid every month

DiamondLily, thank you for the link. I will not bother to post on this thread, but have read every post until I saw yours. I feel that because I am a Conservative the vast majority hate me which is clear. It matters not that many of us who are most elderly grew up in poverty and at times in adulthood money was short. People keep on about rich Conservative MPs with all their expenses. I would remind you that many Labour MPs are not poor! My parents were very poor but the whole family scraped together money to buy my uniform and I went to the Liverpool College For Girls on the scholarship in 1945. It was only education that allowed me to reach reasonable economic circumstances. I have always worked for public services and I not only knew poverty but worked with poor people. The nastiness on this thread is palpable. I wish we could have more reasonable conversations. There are some good points made but anyone who thinks the Conservative MP was making a reasonable argument is dismissed as an a**e in the OP. I had a quick look at the mumsnet thread and people were asking reasonable questions. We all lead different lives and I think live and let live is sometimes missing here. No matter. Once Labour get in to power I am sure it will be much better.

Piskey

Hi witzend - apparently a landlord now has to pay tax (20% or 40% depending on income) on the whole amount of the rent, instead of just claiming the outstanding balance against tax, so a rent of £1.000 a month with a 50% mortgage, now has to pay tax of either £200.00 or £400.00 instead of £100 and £200 a month - hence the difference
I think in 2026 every private landlord ( not commercial) has to upgrade his property to energy level C - this will put up rents yet again.
Haven’t heard these facts mentioned anywhere in the media, when mentioning rent rises - think this is why so many landlords are selling up - a lot of families where I live have been given eviction papers, even thou rent paid every month

It's 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for existing tenancies. My EPG rating is already B (the minimum is currently E), so why would landlords need to put up the rents on homes which are already energy efficient?

PS. Serves them right for letting out energy inefficeint homes.

Landlords haven't received tax relief on the whole amount of mortgage interest since 2020 - that won't affect those without a mortgage and they still receive tax relief on maintenance costs.

Anniel

DiamondLily, thank you for the link. I will not bother to post on this thread, but have read every post until I saw yours. I feel that because I am a Conservative the vast majority hate me which is clear. It matters not that many of us who are most elderly grew up in poverty and at times in adulthood money was short. People keep on about rich Conservative MPs with all their expenses. I would remind you that many Labour MPs are not poor! My parents were very poor but the whole family scraped together money to buy my uniform and I went to the Liverpool College For Girls on the scholarship in 1945. It was only education that allowed me to reach reasonable economic circumstances. I have always worked for public services and I not only knew poverty but worked with poor people. The nastiness on this thread is palpable. I wish we could have more reasonable conversations. There are some good points made but anyone who thinks the Conservative MP was making a reasonable argument is dismissed as an a**e in the OP. I had a quick look at the mumsnet thread and people were asking reasonable questions. We all lead different lives and I think live and let live is sometimes missing here. No matter. Once Labour get in to power I am sure it will be much better.

I don't agree that there's been "nastiness".

The Conservative MP hasn't made a reasonable argument.

so much nowadays for you need a mobile phone, I get texts from the doctors, for instance, telling me that I'm getting a call from the doctor or to make an appointment for a blood test, and during lockdown, I had physio via a mobile,a bit like zoom but NHS zoom, I'm regularly doing a health-related course on teams on my phone, without internet access I'd not be able to access any of that.
Look at the price of postage these days, being able to email stuff saves on that, and being able to do banking online means you don't need to pay for transport to a branch. If you are in temporary accommodation or indeed nowadays much accommodation, there is no landline. I have a landline with my broadband but actually pay less monthly for my mobile and data, as having mobile data means that life is easier, I can go to places I don't know and look up buses and maps, I don't need to buy a map or find the bus station. I can do simple work-related tasks when I'm waiting for a bus on my mobile
I've worked and volunteered with people who are jobless, on benefits, and asylum seekers. Some of those unfortunate people hardly had more than a kettle and a ring and microwave, to cook on let alone fridge space or a freezer. or a big pan, or a wooden spoon or whisk or even a sharp knife. Or space to store even small bulk buys of food even if they were able to do it. Basic cheap filling things need lots of ingredients to make them tasty, and it can take time to build up a stock of such items, and basics like flour or cornflour to make sauces. I love lentils, often make a lentil soup because I enjoy it but you need other things to put in to it for flavour and balanced nutrition. Plus buying in small packets is a dear way of getting them, not everyone has access to an Asian shop to get large cheap bags full. Veg soup can be easy but it can be nicer if you are able to blend it, so where do you get your blender. Where I live I do visit Aldi but I'm only able to do that because I have a car and pop in when I have to go the ten or twelve miles for something else workwise. One person on a bus would cost nearly £9, In some places, the costs of buses are such that it may be well cheaper to take a taxi if you also have children that have to be paid for on the bus, and it may mean you can bring back shopping that you couldn't possibly carry. If you have no transport you are limited to what you can carry. I'm lucky that I can get to Aldi, when I was in a village with no car and with local small shop and with few buses and the ones there were didn't actually go anywhere that useful, that was hard getting the shopping.
I'd agree that cooking is not taught as it used to be, but although I can make all the different types of pastry nowadays I'm afraid I buy it ready-made most of the time, well puff pastry anyway. Even shortcrust it can be more convenient to just defrost a small packet of pastry. But honestly, if you are short on time and money and you can get a cheap pie you are going o go for that
So many do not know what poverty is like.

Anniel

DiamondLily, thank you for the link. I will not bother to post on this thread, but have read every post until I saw yours. I feel that because I am a Conservative the vast majority hate me which is clear. It matters not that many of us who are most elderly grew up in poverty and at times in adulthood money was short. People keep on about rich Conservative MPs with all their expenses. I would remind you that many Labour MPs are not poor! My parents were very poor but the whole family scraped together money to buy my uniform and I went to the Liverpool College For Girls on the scholarship in 1945. It was only education that allowed me to reach reasonable economic circumstances. I have always worked for public services and I not only knew poverty but worked with poor people. The nastiness on this thread is palpable. I wish we could have more reasonable conversations. There are some good points made but anyone who thinks the Conservative MP was making a reasonable argument is dismissed as an a**e in the OP. I had a quick look at the mumsnet thread and people were asking reasonable questions. We all lead different lives and I think live and let live is sometimes missing here. No matter. Once Labour get in to power I am sure it will be much better.

There is a frequent poster on GransNet who has been very clear that she has always been a Conservative voter, but that she can no longer support them because of how they are behaving and what they are doing to the country.

When people like Anderson are in Parliament, there is no "reasonable conversation" to be had, not any longer. People are very upset that a man on his income, who can claim the expenses he does, make claims about people using foodbanks that are unfounded and insulting. It wouldn't matter if he was Conservative, Labour or Monster Raving Looney, he shows a complete misunderstanding of how society is operating today.

And now he's started attacking Jack Monroe with Martin Daubney on a YouTube channel associated with Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party. He's a self-publicist, who is positioning himself as anti-woke in a manufactured culture war.

I'll see if I can link to the video, although I found it quite painful to watch.

I've just been watching that! This is part of what he said:

She’s talking money off some of the most vulnerable people in society… Its her that’s rich, I’m not rich. I was dragged up in Huthwait. As you know I worked down the pit all my life. Didn’t have two ha’pennies to rub together. I am where I am because the Conservative Party gave me that chance.

He was suspended by Labour in 2018, because of the Traveller thing with boulders.

I think she's going to sue him.

If he's not working down't pit, that is...

He worked down the pit for 10 years. He's in his 50s, so that's not all his life. He's been investigated by the Conservative Party for anti-semiticism, apart from making the comment about knockers and staging an interview with a constituent.

Maybe Katie Hopkins could give him some advice about being sued by Jack Monroe.