Let them eat cake

[Bulletguy]

 

In keeping with Tory tradition of sneering at the peasantry, Lee Anderson MP for Ashfield, claimed there is no “massive use” for foodbanks in Britain, and people use them because they are unable to cook or budget “properly”. (He's forgot under his governments tenure foodbanks have more than doubled). *-)

 

Apparently in order to use Ashfield foodbanks the peasants must “register for a budgeting and cooking course” where they are shown how to cook meals for 30p a day. He's so detached with his 'FU i'm alright Jack' attitude, he doesn't know millions of people have been plunged into fuel poverty thanks to his government capping at a staggering 54% which has more than doubled gas/electric with the same expected in October.

 

Last year Mr Anderson claimed £208,491 expenses on top of his £84,144 pa salary.....costing the taxpayer just shy of £300k.

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-mp-moans-poor-people-26937597

[CurtainRaiser]

Elsie, meanwhile, rides the bus to keep warm, because she can’t afford to heat the room.

[John52]

So much for Johnson's election promise of 'levelling up' *-)

[Bulletguy]

 

Michael Crick exposes the shyster Anderson.

 

[Bulletguy]

 

When someone struggles to make ends meet on £43k a year.......you know it's bad.

 

A detective who has served in the police for 23 years has told how she has been forced to use food banks and borrow from family to cover her living costs.

 

The 47-year-old said that she resorted to borrowing £40 from her mother last weekend to cover petrol and her son’s school lunch.

 

She said her £43,000 annual salary translates to £2,300 take-home pay a month because of tax, national insurance, pensions payments and other contributions.

 

“Some of the politicians are so far removed from the reality of it, and live in their big houses in nice areas with the kids in public schools,” she added. “I’ve never known it as bad as this and I’m not alone in my situation.”

 

The officer described having to deny her teenage son new clothes and activities, and using an app to get discarded food from chain cafes.

 

“On pay day we go to Sainsbury’s,” she added. “At the end of the month, sometimes it’s a breakfast sandwich [from the app] for tea at night.”

 

DC Knight said she had used a food bank in the past, and would have to more regularly if not for family and friends.

 

Because of the cost of petrol, she is currently considering cycling 22 miles in each direction to work at least three days a week.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-pay-cost-of-living-b2081232.html

[Bulletguy]

 

I knew it would only be a matter of time before the right kind of person totally shredded MP Lee Andersons ludicrous claim.

 

Chef cooks 30p meals to show exactly how much nonsense MP is talking

 

A top chef has slammed an MP who claimed people can cook a nutritious meal for 30p - and created paltry portions to show exactly what the meagre budget can stretch to. Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, said in the House of Commons last Wednesday that meals could be cooked for as little as 30p a day.

 

Gareth Mason, 34, said his 'tone deaf' comments were 'insulting' to the public who were facing the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. And he set about proving Mr Anderson wrong by cooking seven every day meals that cost 30p.

 

Gareth cooked meagre portions of crab stick salad, burgers, spaghetti napoli, beans on toast, a jacket potato with beans and a 'spam fritter' made from cheap luncheon meat. He said: "I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a load of rubbish. These meals I’ve done, as soon as you put any protein or dairy into them, it’s not feasible to do it for 30p.

 

“If you eat beans on toast for every meal, it might work, but even if you did cheese on toast, the cost of cheese would be more than 30p on its own. And you have the cooking cost on top of the cost of the food.

 

“Even if this MP is talking about batch cooking army food, even the smallest amount of spaghetti Bolognese is going to go above 30p."

 

Gareth, who has 19 years’ experience, said he said none of the meals were balanced and he had to exclude things such as increasingly expensive butter. He said an adult would struggle to get the recommended daily allowance of 2000 calories per day and most ingredients were high in salt, fat or sugar.

 

Gareth, head chef at Absolute Bistros in Westhoughton, Lancs., questioned where the average person was supposed to find the kitchen or storage space. He added: “Has this guy ever eaten a 30p meal in his life? I doubt it."

 

“He’s contradicted himself by having chefs cook the food in a big kitchen with an industrial oven. Where does he expect the average person to cook all this food and then freeze it all?

 

“It takes a trained and experienced chef to work out the precise cost of a meal to the penny like that, how is the average person supposed to do that?"

 

https://tinyurl.com/4hvfaxuz

 

[Bulletguy]

 

How EU countries are helping people with the cost of living

 

Energy prices have just risen by almost £700, food prices are rising, and the Tories have just imposed a tax rise on working people, while cutting Universal Credit for low income families.

 

While European countries are taking real action to tackle the cost of living crisis, Westminster simply sits on its hands.

 

Sunak’s response to the crisis, centred on a £200 “heat now, pay later” loan, is woefully inadequate.

 

Here’s how it compares internationally.

 

France

 

While energy prices in the UK rose by 54%, the French government chose to cap them at 4%.

 

Instead of passing on the high wholesale energy prices onto consumers, the French energy company EDF has been forced to take a hit to protect household incomes.

 

On top of that, France introduced a 15 cent-per-litre reduction in fuel (compared to 5p in the UK), and low-income French households received a one-off payment of €100 to help with rising energy costs.

 

 

Germany

 

The German government is giving everyone a one-off €300 payment to help with the cost of living, and a further €100 for each child.

 

On top of this, anybody receiving state benefits will receive an additional €100.

 

Additionally, Germany has cut fuel tax by 30 cents on petrol, compared to the 5p announced by Sunak.

 

 

Spain

 

Spain has lowered VAT on energy bills from 21% to 10% until June, while taxes on electricity have been cut from 7% to 0.5%.

 

The Spanish government has also levied a windfall tax on energy companies, helping to ease the burden of high costs for consumers.

 

 

Ireland

 

The Irish government has given households a €200 energy rebate, with those who are claiming fuel allowance receiving €125 on top of that.

 

Public transport fares have also been reduced by 20% until the end of the year, to help with rising costs.

 

 

Belgium

 

In 2016, Johnson and the Brexit campaign said that leaving the EU would mean cheaper energy bills through a VAT cut. They failed to deliver that.

 

Meanwhile, Belgium has cut VAT on energy from 21% to 6% until July.

 

All households also got an electricity bill discount of €100.

 

Meanwhile, the UK is the only major economy to put up taxes on working people during the cost of living crisis, yet cut £4billion of tax for bankers.