Madchester, rave on

Last night, most Conservative MPs voted not to extend free meals for poor schoolchildren over the half term and Christmas holidays. Saying that the country cannot afford it.

The country spent more during August bribing people to eat out to help out.

They just di not want to help poor people. Poor children, eat one meal a day.

Instead they blamed poor parents who chose to bring their children up in the time of COVID. Parenthood isn’t a lifestyle choice, unless it is done by a minor member of the Royal Family.

A Tory MP who is a board member of a child hunger charity, voted not to feed poor children over the school holidays, many people have tweeted the charity asking if they are happy with this.

I wonder if they are.

Conservatives are more than happy to punish poor children over the fact their parents have no job, or are earning about two thirds of the minimum wage whilst on furlough of the job replacement scheme. If the minimum wage was deemed just sufficient to pay for food and accommodation a year ago, then earning 80% or 60% of that clearly isn’t enough, and will cause families to decide whether to heat their house, pay rent or eat.

Simple as that.

When people in power or Government have no idea what it is like to be poor, to have no hope, to look at their hungry children and despair at the thought you cannot afford to feed them enough, there will never be change.

Remember too, that some MPs still sitting, were caught in the expenses scandal a few years back, and used expenses, funded by taxpayers, to clean the moat of their house(!) or buy a replacement duck house. That is OK, but feeding hungry children is beyond the pale, apparently.

And remember too that two days ago, after negotiating ten days with a selection of north-western mayors including the one for Greater Manchester? Well, today, the chancellor announced a new package of help, including for Manchester, backdated, giving most of that the mayors were asking for.

The “fight” was staged to demonise a Labour mayor, and worked as some wavering(!) voters I know thought Burnham was in the wrong after all this. Like the other arranged fight with another mayor, that with the mayor of London over TFL funding. A fight built on lies and misinformation, done in the run up to the new mayoral election to give the Conservative candidate a boost.

The same Chancellor had to announce major changes to how winter help package, which meant it didn’t actually last into winter, with big changes to the furlough replacement scheme and support for businesses closed of having reduced custom. Just like Manchester asked for.

But you won’t read that in the papers tomorrow……