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Jun 10, 2022 16 tweets 8 min read Read on X
#THREAD

Under the Tories, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals has risen again, & now stands at 22.5%.

Nearly 2 MILLION schoolchildren in English schools were eligible for free school meals at the start of this year, government data shows.

#SunlitUplands Image
22.5% of pupils in English schools were eligible for free school meals (FSM) in January - an increase of 160,000 on last year's figure - described as "shocking" by headteachers' leaders.

This thread is based on this article:

tes.com/magazine/news/…
School leaders' Unions warned that these pupils' circumstances could become even "more severe" due to the #CostOfLivingCrisis & called for additional funding "for both educational & pastoral support".

No doubt the Mail & Tory MPs will ramp up their anti-union rhetoric, as usual. ImageImage
Pupils in England are eligible for FSM if their parent or carer is entitled to certain benefits, such as Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.

The proportion of eligible pupils was rising even before the pandemic, from 13.6% in 2018, but shot up to 20.8% in 2021. Image
Schools get extra funding (pupil premium) for each of their students on FSM - but not all students who are eligible claim FSM.

FSM eligibility varies between different schools: 23% in state-funded primaries; 21% in secondaries; special schools 44.7%; pupil referral units 54.6%. Image
In state-funded nurseries (where children are eligible if they meet the criteria & attend for full days) the figure rose to a new high of 8.6% & primary numbers may continue to rise.

FSM eligibility has big regional variations: 29.1% in the North East & 17.6% in the South East. Image
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the #NAHT school leaders' union, warned that the children who have become newly eligible for FSM are "disproportionately drawn from more #disadvantaged areas & are largely those pupils who already needed more support." Image
Schools are "increasingly struggling" to give support due to "overstretched budgets & the erosion of the value of pupil premium funding since 2015. Additional funding is urgently needed for both educational & pastoral support. Children who are hungry are not ready to learn." Image
Teachers & school leaders are increasingly having to tackle the impact of #poverty before they can even start teaching.

"Free school meals eligibility should be extended to every child from a family in receipt of Universal Credit, with auto-enrolment." Image
Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL) union, said it was "shocking" to see so many children living in extremely difficult financial circumstances - & another 800,000 children living in #poverty do not even qualify for the meals. Image
"Even more shocking is the fact that current eligibility does not even capture all the children who need help. Free school meal eligibility now applies to 22.5% of pupils, but we know that the level of child poverty is about 30%."

#CostOfLivingCrisis #LevellingUp Image
While the @Conservatives have wasted £BILLIONS, & their Party depends almost entirely on their grotesquely wealthy donors, more than 2 MILLION adults in the UK have gone without food for a whole day over the past month because they cannot afford to eat.

theguardian.com/society/2022/m…
The latest survey of the nation’s food intake shows a 57% jump in the proportion of households cutting back on food or skipping meals over the first three months of this year, with one in seven adults (7.3 MILLION) estimated to be food-insecure, up from 4.7 million in January. Image
We've not arrived at this abhorrent & unnecessary situation overnight - it's the consequence of a long-term plan by deranged free-market fundamentalists, & if UK citizens were sufficiently informed about it, the Tories would NEVER form a Govt ever again.

Free-market fundamentalism is the problem, not the solution.🧐 Image

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More from @docrussjackson

Dec 20
#THREAD

The Heartland Institute (HI) is a Chicago-based lobby group at the forefront of denying the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.

Nigel Farage was the “special guest of honour” at the launch of the Heartland Institute’s new European offshoot on 17 December. Image
In September, Reform UK's Nigel Farage called on the US to “drill baby drill” for more fossil fuels as he headlined a 40th anniversary HI event.

The Heartland Institute, which questions human-made climate change, has established a new branch in London.

desmog.com/2024/12/19/nig…
Reform UK is 'anti-Net Zero'.

In a press release announcing its new UK-EU branch, based in London, Heartland boasted that it is “the world’s most prominent think tank supporting skepticism about man-made climate change”.

👏FFS.👏Join.👏The.👏Dots.👏

Image
Read 25 tweets
Dec 16
#THREAD

Shit-stirring hypocritical bigoted playground bullies were once shunned by society, but now they can become MPs.

Is Reform UK's Lee Anderson, who exploits ordinary people with his infantile divisive populism, the thickest & most hypocritical bigot ever to become an MP? Image
#30pLee is on his third party in six years.

He was elected as a Labour councillor in 2015 & suspended by the local branch of the Labour Party in 2018 after receiving a community-protection warning by the council for using boulders to block members of the Traveller community. Image
#30pLee resigned from Labour in 2018 & was elected as a Tory councillor on Mansfield District Council in 2019. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Ashfield in 2019, and was elected as a Tory MP.

He's long been associated with the far-right.

Read 45 tweets
Dec 14
#THREAD

The Chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, Richard Cooke, has been suspended after he branded racism allegations as "nonsense" on social media after a former chief inspector alleged racism & homophobia were rife within the force.

itv.com/news/central/2…
Policing is hard. The Police Federation of England and Wales is the statutory staff association for police constables, sergeants, inspectors, chief inspectors & special constables in the 43 territorial police forces in England & Wales. Cooke is Chair of the West Midlands branch.
Under UK labour law, the police are prohibited from joining ordinary trade unions to defend pay and working conditions, by the Police Act 1996, because of the view that a police strike would pose an exceptional public safety risk.

Cooke is a controversial figure. Image
Read 9 tweets
Dec 11
🧵Trump has assigned Musk a chilling task: To dismantle & destroy large parts of the federal government. Musk wants us to call this project by a humorous & innocent-sounding name: the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE).

#Framing is important.

theframelab.org/destruction-of…
First, Musk's project is not an official Dept, so it's not factual to call it one.

Second, the goal of Musk's project is destruction, not "efficiency." Efficiency is when you make something work better. Musk clearly seeks to eliminate, not improve, large parts of government. Image
Finally, Musk has named his project after a meme, DOGE, a crypto scam named for a Shiba Inu dog. He's treating it all as a joke. But the destruction of government is deadly serious, and there's no reason why everyone should automatically participate in Musk's juvenile antics. Image
Read 18 tweets
Dec 10
#THREAD

I've lost count of all the ultrarich privately educated 'anti-elites' in Reform UK!

Dubai World Trade Centre & Nick Candy's Candy Capital have a partnership to develop a “super-prime” real estate development in Dubai - where co-owner of GB "News", Legatum, is based! 🤑 Image
Candy joined the Tory party in 2009 & has donated at least £290,000 to it.

In February he gave an interview saying it was “probably time for a change” & that Keir Starmer was “a decent man with good values and good morals”.

Nick Candy is to become Reform UK's new treasurer! Image
He hopes to raise more than £40M for Reform UK: "This morning, I’ve had millions of pounds worth of donations from people that have never donated to a political party in this country. But it’s not just about getting rich donors & billionaire people or whatever."

"WHATEVER!" 👀 Image
Read 12 tweets
Dec 9
#THREAD

My 2023 Open Letter about @BBCQuestiontime, read by 300,000 people in 144 countries, was widely reported in the media & informed questions asked of @BBC DG Tim Davie at a Parliamentary Select Committee.

Here's my 🧵 analysis of the recent episode of #bbcqt, featuring: Image
My main criticisms of #bbcqt were: poor & biased chairing, including a tolerance of panellists who continually interrupt; ambiguity about the audience political demographic; & the well-evidenced bias toward platforming panellists from right-leaning media.

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/an-op…
The @BBC's desire to drive engagement means #bbcqt is now overly dependent on platforming guests known for generating division, soundbites, & polarising controversy, rather than engaging in nuanced, respectful debate, which compromises its duty to 'INFORM & EDUCATE' the public. Image
Read 74 tweets

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