Martin2005

Bloody good idea.

We must be getting close to an election

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

excellent idea, saves me making sandwich's for my two

zip106

Ridiculous idea.

If you can afford to pay, you should pay.

tony de wonderful

A good idea. Kids need to eat right.

dpb

Are you suggesting they should be educating their parents?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The food at my Primary school was so crap you couldn't give it away.

They didn't have anyone qualified to cook, so the food was cooked at another school and brought in and kept warm. Food was therefore either luke warm slop or hot semi-cremated and rock hard.

And if you didn't have enough on your plate, the dinner ladies would force to have more and wouldn't let you leave until you had eaten it all (although eating rock solid roast potatoes was impossible...couldn't even stab it with a fork! )

I'm retchting just thinking of it.

Hopefully its a bit better these days.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

The first election bribe, then?

Announced by Mr Dead Duck himself....LOL

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Only a good idea if this is decent quality food, not the usual <insert processed meat product> with chips and coke.

Scoobydoo Ste

iTrader: (3)

Schools are funded by the government which is funded by the uk tax payer - both myself and my partner are working and pay tax so I and i'm sure many other tax payers will welcome it.

zip106

And?

I also work and pay tax.
As does my wife.

I'd prefer the money saved by NOT giving food away to those who can afford it, be used to update buildings for a better learning environment, better reading books, more lunchtime/after school activities and more importantly more teachers.

So many schools are having funding for teachers cut and are having to put different age years together in the same class.
Another stupid idea.

Free school meals for those that need it was around when I was at primary school 40 years ago - it worked well then, why not now?

Just more nannying to try and win fvcking votes.
Utter cvnts.

paulr

Rubbish idea, and I'm a Lib Dem.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Obviously a vote buying exercise, but I am glad to see it is not means-tested.

- People with means aren't necessarily well equipped to provide good meals for their kids, if their own food education is poor.
- It makes no distinction between the backgrounds of kids, so there is no stigma or division between them, it's too early an age to start classifying kids in this way.
- School meals *could* be more nutritious than the average packed lunch.
- Frees up time and money for all parents.

With that said, I'm sure we could do something better with this money, like plugging the multi-billion black hole in the public finances.

zip106

I had free meals at school - didn't make me feel inferior to those that didn't.

I really don't see an issue.
Just the bloody hand-ringing Liberals thinking they know what's best for all of us.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Nobody knows at school who is on free meals, it's highly confidential so as to reduce stigma.......

Not sure what to think of it. That money would bring back free eye tests and free dental checkups plus some treatments. However that would make redundant a pile of people who currently work the means tests for dental / eye checks.

Money spent on school meals will increase employment.....

Shame my mob are to old

Shaun

Turbohot

It's not going to make much difference to their fantastic reputation.

Clarkson wants to stand against the Labour one. I think the tiddy one should give it a go against the Liberal one.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

SJ_Skyline

It will help pay for the wife's gin

Martin2005

Yeah fancy 'nannying' young children!

This was the output of a comprehensive review, so it didn't come out of nowhere. I believe the authors of the report wanted to go much further.

I think it's a great idea, even though my kids our now too old to get the benefit

madscoob

iTrader: (3)

great idea only problem is they won't be hungry at tea time, i once asked at my kids school. IF THE LOCAL COUNCIL PROUDLY BOAST'S THEY SPEND 80PENCE ON A KIDS SCHOOL DINER, HOW COME THEY ARE £2.30 FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO PAY. needless to say i didn't get a answer and when i sugested is it because we are paying for all those that get freebies supprise supprise no answer again

zip106

But they're not nannying the kids are they?
It's the parents hands they're holding.

My kids couldn't care less if they have a school dinner or a packed lunch each day.

If there was a real issue then this would have been implemented many, many years ago.

Like when the country could actually afford it.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I guess that will make up for the Child Benefit I have lost.

Matteeboy

I think school meals are absolutely critical and welcome this new policy.
Kids eat school meals properly; they don't with packed lunches and it encourages mealtime faffing. With a boy of nearly 5 and a girl of two, I'm pleased.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Agree with most people here, sadly a lot of parents are too lazy or well, stupid to provide good food for their children.

Paying for children to have a better future, physically and mentally through my taxes is fine by me. Sits better than the other benefits

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Agree with most people here, sadly a lot of parents are too lazy or well, stupid to provide good food for their children.

Paying for children to have a better future, physically and mentally through my taxes is fine by me. Sits better than the other benefits

cster

The patronising c***s can shove it up their 4rses.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Free meals is good idea, but just so long as its decent quality food, and not stuff thats been processed silly

cster

Let's rephrase that post.
Why would anyone want the government (by definition - provider of second rate services) to supply something as important as food to someone as important as their own children when they can do the job themselves?
Nanny state mind set anyone?

urban

iTrader: (1)

Thats fine with regards to a packed lunch.
But not a warm meal in the middle of winter.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'm in agreement with the above.

What galls me is that, in future years, it will go down as part of the education budget, as in, "we have spent x billion pounds more on education..."
Rubbish.

I remember my dad, a fearsome secondary school deputy head once saying to a parents' meeting, "Do you realise that your children are eating the equivalent of four teachers a year?"

And that only referred to SUBSIDISED meals, let alone free ones.

Scoobydoo Ste

iTrader: (3)

And, It doesn't matter what your opinion on the matter is - the fact is they are offering to give something for free to the working class people which doesn't happen very often so I'm not going to turn my nose up at it.