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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

Yes, there are some things I actively dislike.
Better for them to be given to someone who will use and enjoy them.

PS. If I had to go to a food bank, I'd hand back the pasta and rice too because I wouldn't eat and I wouldn't want to waste it.

Jaxjacky

If you read back, as it’s suggested we do growstuff JdotJ stated she’s worked in a food bank for 3 years.

I can't read back on every thread and I don't keep a diary of people's posts.

Doodledog

volver

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

Nobody answered my post about Eton, so I'll rephrase it.

For me how to learn how to cook pate sucre or decorate the living room would have meant taking time away from actually learning academic things. Like it or not, we need people who are good at learning academic things. So how do we decide who needs to learn to change a plug and who needs to know exactly how the electricity is generated in the first place?

Do we just have to learn cooking and budgeting if we are in a school where it is deemed unlikely that we will ever have to know how to speak Mandarin?

BTW I can change a plug.

I don’t like the idea of schools as simply fitting people for work. IMO all of them, from Eton to Bash Street, should prepare people for life. Whether that’s cooking, plug changing, poetry appreciation or playing an instrument, I think that all young people should be taught things that have the potential to enrich their lives. Not as paid-for extras, but as part of their education.

I find it sad when people say that there is ‘no point’ in learning things that don’t lead directly into jobs. I understand it, but think it’s a narrow view of what education should be about.

I also think that learning things in the abstract is less useful than a more holistic approach, and that at a younger age at least, broad-based projects would stick in the mind more than ‘chopping skills’ or disembodied maths. Chopping veg to make a pie that is part of a lesson on ratios or fractions, on the lines of ‘if each tray of pies takes 12 carrots, and there are four pies per tray, and each pie serves four children, how many carrots does each child get? There are three times more peas than carrots. How many peas are in a pie, and in a portion of pie?’ will be better remembered than separate lessons that have no immediate application.

I disagree 100%. Schools have moved on from the days of the elementary/secondary mod curriculum. Education is now compulsory from 16-18. Most sixth forms provide sessions on opening bank accounts, understanding interest rates, basic nutrition, the highway code, consumer laws, etc.

I can do all the practical tasks you mentioned and I didn't learn about any of them at school. I learnt on a "need to know" basis because I can read books/instructions and search the internet. Meanwhile, I learnt content and skills at school which I could never have picked up casually.

Woodmouse
I respect that you have your views, but you really have no idea. Nobody sets out to be in poverty. Lots of people have ill health, can no longer work and the 'safety net' that is Universal Credit is woefully inadequate. I worked in the NHS beside lots of other hardworking staff, many of whom had to claim benefits to top up their wages. You cannot tell people they 'earn' their poverty.
I was shocked at your posts. I wish you well and I am pleased that you are in a position where you feel comfortable. Many are in dire straights.

Mobile phones, acrylic nails, picking and choosing what they will and won't accept...

People on the thread.
Schools should teach cooking.
The poor turn up in big cars with big eyebrows (the people, not the cars!)