Universal free school meals

[stacker1]

Yes but the majority don’t get £25 a day food allowance on top for that. That is what I was eluding to.

You got an allowance in the police if you worked an extra 4 hours overtime but you could only claim anything if you produced a receipt for your pie and chips, kebab or whatever else you had. 9/10 you were too busy inside doing your paperwork to be bothered with that and just got a mars bar or something from the vending machine which didn’t give our receipts.
These bloody MPs have it far too easy at our expense.
Oh and we didn’t have a subsidised bar and I very much doubt many workplaces have either!

I get around 90 quid a day allowance (no receipts) if I have to go to London for work related reasons. I can't believe the poor MPs only get 25 quid.

 

[Gout Man]

I get around 90 quid a day allowance (no receipts) if I have to go to London for work related reasons. I can't believe the poor MPs only get 25 quid.

Lucky you.

 

[stacker1]

Lucky you.

Meh, its okay I guess

 

[XPara Mugg]

Not accurately but yes, mainly for boys. Jaydens, Alfies, Joshes and Waynes are combat indicators of future bellendery (although Waynes seem to have become an endangered species). Kids christened with a nickname (on the official register as Josh or Mat rather than Joshua or Matthew) are also suspect, as are weird spellings or pronunciations.

Double-barrelled names used to mean either very posh or mum's a slapper, now seem to be increasingly common, as are parents with different surnames to the child which can make writing emails a tad embarrassing. Stereotypical middle class names seem to be on the rise as well, it's rare to have issues with an Arabella or Araminta.

A couple of name related, school based tales. Sorry for the length. Maybe I'm bored.

In one primary school, in a not so bad area, I was teaching for a few months, covering a maternity leave. The class were year 5s so mostly 9/10. In that school it was practice to call the register, every morning and afternoon, with the kids sitting on the 'carpet' while I sat in the comfy 'reading chair'. The names were in surname alphabetical order, boys and girls all together and only first names were called. Scene set.

Each registration time I had to call this (phonetic spellings provided to give a true picture):

Good morning/afternoon please listen for your names:

Hayleigh Hay-lee
Kayleigh Kay-lee
Kileigh Ky-lee
Kelley Key-lee
Random boys name
Kirsty Kirsty
Kelly Kelly

Further down the register.

John
Waine

Michael
Cain


One afternoon, a bright young lad looked up at me and said, "Sometimes you just can't keep a straight face".

I hope he went far.



In another primary school, where I was Acting Head, I was covering for a sudden staff absence. It was a pretty rough school in what is euphemistically called 'the North Thames fringe' and staff were difficult to get and retain, never mind supply staff. Now, I come from a long standing farming/milling/baking family where the nineteenth century tradition was a double barrelled name used according to which trade the males took part in; one half for bakers, the other half for millers and both together for farmers. Males marrying in adopted the name pattern, so all very nineteenth century and a nightmare to research genealogically. I followed my grandfather's and father's pattern of only using one half, so the double barrel has, pretty much, died out. It only comes through on a few things but does occasionally crop up on addressed letters. I've always thought it a bit pretentious and not reflective of the status it once indicated.

As I was teaching round the tables of the, open plan, year 5 class, a bundle of post was put on the teacher's desk for my attention. Before I could get to it a couple of 'nice, helpful' children decided to 'tidy' my desk. This exchange followed, in quite loud voices, across the fairly 'lively', three class, open plan teaching space:

Child 1: Mr ********

Me: Yes.

Child 1: This letter says it's to Mr XXXXXX-********

Me: Yes, that's my full name but I only use the ********

Child 1: Why?

Me: Because that's what my dad did.

Child 1: Oh.

Child 2: (In an Estuarine voice, that truly carried) Wasn't your mum an dad married then?

Times and social mores change.

 

[Gout Man]

Meh, its okay I guess

I’m not arguing, ask someone else.

 

[The Assassin]

Yes but the majority don’t get £25 a day food allowance on top for that. That is what I was eluding to.

These bloody MPs have it far too easy at our expense.
Oh and we didn’t have a subsidised bar and I very much doubt many workplaces have either!

TA centres do

 

[The Assassin]

We got issued canteen cards at Heathrow for use in the staff canteens in each terminal. Initially, they gave a 50% discount, subsequently reduced by UKBF management to 40%. The subsidised bar was 'Spoons landside at Terminal 4.

Industrial bakery used to work at had a canteen staffed by Sudexo (sausages you would pay for, as many as you wanted). Those that were employed full-time got £5 in vouchers to subsidise their meals per week, those on zero-hours contracts had to pay full (yet very reasonable) price.

 

[exbluejob]

Yes but the majority don’t get £25 a day food allowance on top for that. That is what I was eluding to.

You got an allowance in the police if you worked an extra 4 hours overtime but you could only claim anything if you produced a receipt for your pie and chips, kebab or whatever else you had. 9/10 you were too busy inside doing your paperwork to be bothered with that and just got a mars bar or something from the vending machine which didn’t give our receipts.
These bloody MPs have it far too easy at our expense.
Oh and we didn’t have a subsidised bar and I very much doubt many workplaces have either!

Envy is still green coloured I see. Why not get a job as an MP since you are so envious of their pay and conditions?

 

[History_Man]

TA centres do

ARCs not TACs these days. The days of really cheap drinks in the Mess have long gone.

 

[History_Man]

Envy is still green coloured I see. Why not get a job as an MP since you are so envious of their pay and conditions?

I doubt that @Gout Man has the requisite lack of integrity...

 

[LeoRoverman]

We got issued canteen cards at Heathrow for use in the staff canteens in each terminal. Initially, they gave a 50% discount, subsequently reduced by UKBF management to 40%. The subsidised bar was 'Spoons landside at Terminal 4.

Well I suppose it is cheaper that 3.25 days subby allce. Jesus we got treated like royalty in those days Mind spoons at Stanstead or Birmingham did do jolly good bangers and mash for an overnighter.

 

[stacker1]

ARCs not TACs these days. The days of really cheap drinks in the Mess have long gone.

Still generally cheaper than civvie establishments.

 

[History_Man]

Still generally cheaper than civvie establishments.

Depends where you go. My Unit Mess, for example, is expensive.

 

[B42T]

This morning I've cooked up a dozen homegrown baby plum tomatoes, a red onion, half a broccoli and a bag of spinach, watercress and rocket, which I picked up from the Co-op yesterday for 29p. It will get added to freshly cooked pasta and topped with a couple of fried eggs. Nutritious, healthy and filling as well as cheap.

To be honest, that sounds absolutely ******* disgusting.
Can't you afford a nice steak or something?

 

[Gout Man]

TA centres do

Oh excellent, I’ll fecking join the TA at 60 then shall I? No I won’t I don’t drink anymore but much more of this and I will.

 

[History_Man]

To be honest, that sounds absolutely ******* disgusting.
Can't you afford a nice steak or something?

The dog got a steak for his eleventh birthday last week...

 

[Gout Man]

I doubt that @Gout Man has the requisite lack of integrity...

You’re to kind sir.

 

[Gout Man]

Envy is still green coloured I see. Why not get a job as an MP since you are so envious of their pay and conditions?

I’m not envious, as a tax payer it just annoys me that they get paid very well and on top of all their expense claims they get a subsidised restaurant and bar and a bloody daily food allowance on top of all that.
Its you and I who are paying for it, in this day and age these sort of perks should go, but as long as the right honourable member is looked after that’s fine, regardless of which party they represent.

 

[Chef]

I’m not envious, as a tax payer it just annoys me that they get paid very well and on top of all their expense claims they get a subsidised restaurant and bar and a bloody daily food allowance on top of all that.
Its you and I who are paying for it, in this day and age these sort of perks should go, but as long as the right honourable member is looked after that’s fine, regardless of which party they represent.

You'll notice that the one time MPs unite is when any of their perks are threatened.

As for the free school meals, where does it end? Primary, secondary or tertiary education? I'd suggest once the principle was established that's the way the argument would go.

Perhaps the time has come to go back to the Victorian, I think, concept of the deserving and the undeserving poor:

Lost your job, fallen on hard times and need a hand to get back on your feet? Here you go.

Third generation unemployed, long term criminal offences, history of fecklessness? You will be housed, fed and watered but at locations we decide. Everything provided but no cash unless you work for it, community projects and the like.

Being responsible for your actions and taking the consequences? I doubt that idea would get past the SJWs.

 

[stacker1]

I’m not envious, as a tax payer it just annoys me that they get paid very well and on top of all their expense claims they get a subsidised restaurant and bar and a bloody daily food allowance on top of all that.
Its you and I who are paying for it, in this day and age these sort of perks should go, but as long as the right honourable member is looked after that’s fine, regardless of which party they represent.

Does subsidised just mean slightly cheaper? like clubs all over the UK?

People can't believe how cheap the House of Commons bar is

The London Economic | No wonder they want to keep it open past 10pm! House of Commons bar prices revealed | Politics

www.thelondoneconomic.com

I think soldiers get a 25 quid a day subsistence allowance as well.