Week 2 2021

 Week Commencing 11th Jan 2021

The focus this week was on food poverty and the free school meals programme that has had a lot of attention due to the campaigning of footballer Marcus Rashford.

There was a lot of anger on social media regarding the picture of a food parcel received and equated cost to about 5 pounds when it should equate to 30 pounds. the food parcel is expected to feed a family for 5 days according the government guidelines.

The company that was awarded the contract Chartwells have since apologised and surely thought they could get away with conning the British tax payer by claiming the 30 pounds back per family and thus getting large amounts of profit through this scheme.

On wednesday in Parliament the issue had been raised by Labour leader Keir Starmer who asked the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, "Would he be happy with his kids living on that, and if not, why is happy for others kids to do so?"

The Prime minister responded, "I dont think anyone in this house is happy with the disgraceful images we have seen, The food parcels that have been offered, they are appalling and they are an insult to the families who have received them and i am grateful to Marcus Rashford for highlighting the issue and who is doing quite an effective job in comparison to the right honorable gentleman in holding the government to account for these issues and the company in question has rightly apologised and agreed to reimburse."

The UK government is investigating food parcels sent to low-income families to feed vulnerable children after campaigners -- including England international footballer Marcus Rashford -- criticized the provisions as "unacceptable."
Families eligible for free school meals (FSM) have been sent food packages while schools in England are shut to most pupils as part of the country's third national lockdown.
But recipients have been posting images online complaining about the provisions.
One post from a Twitter user called Roadside Mum on Monday, shared more than 27,000 times, detailed the items she was sent by Chartwells, one of the companies contracted by the UK government.
Roadside Mum said the parcel contained ingredients to make two jacket potatoes with beans and eight single cheese sandwiches, plus some snacks, pasta and a single tomato.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

#FreeSchoolMeals bag for 10 days:

2 days jacket potato with beans
8 single cheese sandwiches

2 days carrots
3 days apples
2 days soreen
3 days frubes

Spare pasta & tomato. Will need mayo for pasta salad.

Issued instead of £30 vouchers. I could do more with £30 to be honest. pic.twitter.com/87LGUTHXEu

— Roadside Mum 🐯 (@RoadsideMum) January 11, 2021

Children's minister Vicky Ford tweeted that she "will be looking into this urgently" while the Department for Education (DfE) also said that it is "looking into this."
"We have clear guidelines and standards for food parcels, which we expect to be followed," read the DfE's tweet. "Parcels should be nutritious and contain a varied range of food."


Manchester United football player Rashford last year campaigned for 1.3 million children to claim free school meal vouchers in England's summer holidays, forcing a U-turn from the UK government. He was honored by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his campaign.
On Tuesday Rashford posted a Twitter thread following a conversation with Chartwells that morning. He said there had been little communication with suppliers before England's lockdown was announced by the government.
"Children shouldn't be going hungry on the basis that we aren't communicating or being transparent with plans," said Rashford. "That is unacceptable."
British lawmaker Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour party, also waded in.


UN report compares UK welfare policies to Victorian workhouses
"The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal parcels are a disgrace," tweeted Starmer on Tuesday. "Where is the money going? This needs sorting immediately so families don't go hungry through lockdown."
In December, humanitarian organization UNICEF announced it would help feed people in parts of the UK for the first time in its 70-year history.
The United Nations (UN) agency said a "domestic emergency" meant vulnerable children and families need assistance due to the Covid-19 crisis.
In May 2019, a UN report on poverty in the UK said the Conservative government remained in a "state of denial" about the 14 million people living on the breadline, continuing its almost decade-long austerity measures "despite the tragic social consequences."

The UK is the world's fifth largest economy, yet one-fifth of its population lives in poverty, found the report, which predicted that 40% of children would be living in poverty in the next two-and-a-half years.

Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion and liberation of the human body from the coercion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. It stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals