OT shopping news -- massive queue for Sports Direct; none for Sainsbury's. One of the local primary schools always has children in its playground, presumably owing to staggered breaks and PE lessons.
A local secondary school was badly rebuilt recently, which means that they now have staggered break and lunchtimes.
Year 7 start lesson 3 for 15 minutes, break for lunch and then return for the rest of the lesson.
I fully understand the government making a stand on summer lunch vouchers. It won't be long until they're made permanent and then how long until people start asking for dinner vouchers and eventually it just becomes another type of benefit.
Free school meals in term time make sense as it's for educational purposes. Outside of term time it's yet more entitlement culture. Means test the benefit and any family that has more than one mobile phone contract or paid cable or satellite TV is instantly ineligible.
Once again parents are more than happy to shift the burden of raising their children onto the state.
The optics are absolutely terrible, but this is one area I'd absolutely stand firm and use the 80 seat majority to bat it away and ask Marcus Rashford to run for parliament if he feels so strongly about it.
I think you could make a reasonable argument that it's justified during the COVID-19 crisis but that it shouldn't be extended after that, and that argument is something the public probably would agree with.
Lower income families are seeing their income cut and pre-COVID they may just about have been able to put food on the table but it may be a bigger struggle right now, so to offer it for six weeks would be an easy way out of this, especially considering the sum is dwarfed by other economic support the government is offering.
I fully understand the government making a stand on summer lunch vouchers. It won't be long until they're made permanent and then how long until people start asking for dinner vouchers and eventually it just becomes another type of benefit.
Free school meals in term time make sense as it's for educational purposes. Outside of term time it's yet more entitlement culture. Means test the benefit and any family that has more than one mobile phone contract or paid cable or satellite TV is instantly ineligible.
Once again parents are more than happy to shift the burden of raising their children onto the state.
The optics are absolutely terrible, but this is one area I'd absolutely stand firm and use the 80 seat majority to bat it away and ask Marcus Rashford to run for parliament if he feels so strongly about it.
I think it would sit comfortably within the government's package of Covid-19 measures.
Why are you keen to pretend, for free school meals and free school meals only, that all is well otherwise and we aren't facing an economic, social, and mental health crisis at the same time?
Once again Grant Shapps was forced to publicly humiliate himself on live TV this morning, to no end...
He does get sent out on all the bad news days. Guess its better than never getting an appearance like Coffey or Sharma. I wonder what part of his background made him a suitable choice for shameless obfuscation, spinning and lying.
I fully understand the government making a stand on summer lunch vouchers. It won't be long until they're made permanent and then how long until people start asking for dinner vouchers and eventually it just becomes another type of benefit.
Free school meals in term time make sense as it's for educational purposes. Outside of term time it's yet more entitlement culture. Means test the benefit and any family that has more than one mobile phone contract or paid cable or satellite TV is instantly ineligible.
Once again parents are more than happy to shift the burden of raising their children onto the state.
The optics are absolutely terrible, but this is one area I'd absolutely stand firm and use the 80 seat majority to bat it away and ask Marcus Rashford to run for parliament if he feels so strongly about it.
I think it would sit comfortably within the government's package of Covid-19 measures.
Why are you keen to pretend, for free school meals and free school meals only, that all is well otherwise and we aren't facing an economic, social, and mental health crisis at the same time?
The message from this government at heart we don’t give a fig and if we could get away with it we would but we’ve now u-turned.
You can judge this government by its original intentions which on this and the health surcharge show where it’s true heart is , if of course you can find it !
I fully understand the government making a stand on summer lunch vouchers. It won't be long until they're made permanent and then how long until people start asking for dinner vouchers and eventually it just becomes another type of benefit.
Free school meals in term time make sense as it's for educational purposes. Outside of term time it's yet more entitlement culture. Means test the benefit and any family that has more than one mobile phone contract or paid cable or satellite TV is instantly ineligible.
Once again parents are more than happy to shift the burden of raising their children onto the state.
The optics are absolutely terrible, but this is one area I'd absolutely stand firm and use the 80 seat majority to bat it away and ask Marcus Rashford to run for parliament if he feels so strongly about it.
I think it would sit comfortably within the government's package of Covid-19 measures.
Why are you keen to pretend, for free school meals and free school meals only, that all is well otherwise and we aren't facing an economic, social, and mental health crisis at the same time?
Once again Grant Shapps was forced to publicly humiliate himself on live TV this morning, to no end...
I have to say I have been impressed with him (and I am no fan because of his past), but he has handled himself very well in the pandemic and seems more than willing to be wheeled out when a hospital pass is on the way and when everyone else is hiding behind the sofa.
Not sure if this is a bold move on his part or whether he is too stupid to notice that everyone is running for cover on one of these days. So far it has done him no harm in my opinion.
Once again Grant Shapps was forced to publicly humiliate himself on live TV this morning, to no end...
I have to say I have been impressed with him (and I am no fan because of his past), but he has handled himself very well in the pandemic and seems more than willing to be wheeled out when a hospital pass is on the way and when everyone else is hiding behind the sofa.
Not sure if this is a bold move on his part or whether he is too stupid to notice that everyone is running for cover on one of these days. So far it has done him no harm in my opinion.
Schapps will be fuming and ministers will not go into bat for a government that u-turns like this at the drop of a hat.
Well played Marcus Rashford. It has been done begrudgingly but I am really pleased the government has seen sense on this.
At times like this critics of the govt should be careful to avoid too much criticism of the government or suggesting it is weak from u turning. Listening and changing policy is good, whether or not they should have got it right first time or not.
Given their internal policy proposals, hopefully they make a whole series of u-turns over the next few years.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
If they were prepared to take the necessary pay cut I think he and Raheem Stirling ought to be brought into the cabinet.
We could do a lot worse. We are doing a lot worse, let's face it.
I would prefer Rashford to keep playing centre forward for Man U. You can have Sterling if you like although if you tell him the annual salary he may assume that's per week.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
It's all a bit curious. What happens? Are decisions made by Dom which Boris gets to hear about and overrides? Or Are decisions made by Boris which Dom gets to hear about and overrides? If so, can't they settle on a decision first before going public?
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
He did with Cummings. Which tells us all we need to know about who is really in charge here.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
Well, at least we'll never have to hear any complaints about 'populism' or 'unelected advisers' from those experiencing onanistic ecstasy at a decision on public spending being outsourced to a footballer...
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
Yes well have a think about what that tells us about who is actually running things.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
And the thing is the one set of really bad headlines, that he could have avoided and stuck firm i.e. Big Dom.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
We're not party to the amount of foot stamping and shrieking done by Dom.
Well played Marcus Rashford. It has been done begrudgingly but I am really pleased the government has seen sense on this.
At times like this critics of the govt should be careful to avoid too much criticism of the government or suggesting it is weak from u turning. Listening and changing policy is good, whether or not they should have got it right first time or not.
Given their internal policy proposals, hopefully they make a whole series of u-turns over the next few years.
That's very fair and also true. We are heading into unchartered waters with damn little money and whole raft loads of victims. An unprecedented amount of flexibility is going to be required. But feeding kids in poverty seems a very good place to start.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
Indeed.
Feeding kids during a pandemic is the right thing to do, sacking trusted advisors because of a witchhunt is not.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
And the thing is the one set of really bad headlines, that he could have avoided and stuck firm i.e. Big Dom.
The public wont even notice its a u-turn as the Rashford story hasnt even been in the public conscience for more than 24 hours. To the public who are not on twitter this is just Boris being kind to the poor.
It's all a bit curious. What happens? Are decisions made by Dom which Boris gets to hear about and overrides? Or Are decisions made by Boris which Dom gets to hear about and overrides? If so, can't they settle on a decision first before going public?
At this moment Dom's probably typing in a new old blog entry on how he was always very keen on free school dinners.
Well, at least we'll never have to hear any complaints about 'populism' or 'unelected advisers' from those experiencing onanistic ecstasy at a decision on public spending being outsourced to a footballer...
I think Twitter is disappointed that Boris just went with it. They were probably hoping for a week long saga dragged out like with Cummings. As if any of them actually care about free school meals? Doubt it.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
It proves protecting Cummings is BoZo's highest priority
The guy who is delivering Brexit and much needed change to the UK should be a priority. They are all the stronger for riding out that twitter storm and have clearly learned some lessons.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
He did with Cummings. Which tells us all we need to know about who is really in charge here.
I think this is a Gove/Cummings government with Johnson simultaneously the frontman and a passenger.
He is the lipstick on the pig or the shit on the shoe depending how you view things.
Well, at least we'll never have to hear any complaints about 'populism' or 'unelected advisers' from those experiencing onanistic ecstasy at a decision on public spending being outsourced to a footballer...
Good try, but the public spending decision sits with the treasury and elected ministers, it has not been outsourced. In a democracy, people, including footballers, are perfectly entitled to campaign and lobby, that is quite different to populism or an unelected adviser making decisions for their puppet PM.
The thing about this decision is that Boris actually started the week quite well. His position on statues I think will have gone down well with the voter base. Red Wall Tories will see all the hard left nutters wanting rid of Churchill and Boris saying enough of this nonsense, we should focus on issues in todays society, as the right thing to do.
Now it is back to piss poor decisions and media management.
Being forced kicking and screaming into ensuring vulnerable kids do not go hungry is not a great look. But it is better than actually letting them go hungry.
The major takeaway here is wait a while before making any definitive calls on Rishi Sunak's political prospects. He has done the easy part. The next bit is going to be a whole lot tougher. The current fiasco is but a taster for the much bigger stuff to come.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
And the thing is the one set of really bad headlines, that he could have avoided and stuck firm i.e. Big Dom.
The public wont even notice its a u-turn as the Rashford story hasnt even been in the public conscience for more than 24 hours. To the public who are not on twitter this is just Boris being kind to the poor.
There's a bit in The Thick of It where Julius is relaxed about the opposition identifying problems with the immigration system because "they highlight the problems and we fix them". There's some merit in it.
The biggest problem with Theresa May's social care plan is that most people don't think there's a problem that needs fixing. Sure, the media occasionally talks about the problems (pre-COVID I mean), but I don't think most people worry about it and that's because it isn't relentlessly in the news. People don't know that government takes away people's housing to pay for care, which is why the opposition was able to paint May as wanting to steal your house.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
It proves protecting Cummings is BoZo's highest priority
The guy who is delivering Brexit and much needed change to the UK should be a priority. They are all the stronger for riding out that twitter storm and have clearly learned some lessons.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
Indeed.
Feeding kids during a pandemic is the right thing to do, sacking trusted advisors because of a witchhunt is not.
Chose the right thing to reverse on.
Sacking trusted advisors wasn't the issue - the fact is Boris and Cummings can't see how they can defuse things easily,
1) Cummings should have been told to offer a resignation that Boris then refused due to the current crisis (would have played better and removed all the sting immediately) 2) Likewise the free school meals scheme should have been allowed to continue into September due to Covid.
In both cases all they've done is distract people from more important things.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
He did with Cummings. Which tells us all we need to know about who is really in charge here.
I think this is a Gove/Cummings government with Johnson simultaneously the frontman and a passenger.
He is the lipstick on the pig or the shit on the shoe depending how you view things.
We don't agree on much, but on this I am with you.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
He did with Cummings. Which tells us all we need to know about who is really in charge here.
I think this is a Gove/Cummings government with Johnson simultaneously the frontman and a passenger.
He is the lipstick on the pig or the shit on the shoe depending how you view things.
We don't agree on much, but on this I am with you.
Being forced kicking and screaming into ensuring vulnerable kids do not go hungry is not a great look. But it is better than actually letting them go hungry.
The major takeaway here is wait a while before making any definitive calls on Rishi Sunak's political prospects. He has done the easy part. The next bit is going to be a whole lot tougher. The current fiasco is but a taster for the much bigger stuff to come.
Unless the government are just going to keep the taps flowing forever, the screaming over "austerity" (which was in many cases mostly just slowing increasing) that Cameron and Osborne oversaw is going to be a breeze compared to when 100,000s of people realise that furlough scheme was actually extended redundancy.
The government are either going to go full Corbyn or have to get a lot smarter about which battle to fight and be willing to stay strong. Weak and wobbly an even worse look for a government than one where some decisions seem harsh, but for a reason.
This is great news. Given the cheapness of the drug, we could be talking about this saving tends if not hundreds of thousands of lives. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53061281
The thing about this decision is that Boris actually started the week quite well. His position on statues I think will have gone down well with the voter base. Red Wall Tories will see all the hard left nutters wanting rid of Churchill and Boris saying enough of this nonsense, we should focus on issues in todays society, as the right thing to do.
Now it is back to piss poor decisions and media management.
Resolving this school meals issue within 24 hours seems like reasonable decision making.
Well, at least we'll never have to hear any complaints about 'populism' or 'unelected advisers' from those experiencing onanistic ecstasy at a decision on public spending being outsourced to a footballer...
Good try, but the public spending decision sits with the treasury and elected ministers, it has not been outsourced. In a democracy, people, including footballers, are perfectly entitled to campaign and lobby, that is quite different to populism or an unelected adviser making decisions for their puppet PM.
On the contrary, it's exactly the same - indeed worse, because the government won a majority on a populist platform and has the right to appoint any advisers it chooses. The last time I checked, no footballer had any of that democratic legitimacy.
Since populism is now explicitly the name of the game for all sides, roll on the abolition of DfID!
Government desperately needs inner cabinet + Alistair Campbell running a small team spotting clouds before they become thunder storms.
On a serious note social media is resulting in part of the population including many celebrities participating in a frenzy of agitation. Is this a virtual '68? The frenzy even exceeds the last GE and yet another GE is 4 years away. What is going to give? Will it deflate or explode in some way?
Being forced kicking and screaming into ensuring vulnerable kids do not go hungry is not a great look. But it is better than actually letting them go hungry.
The major takeaway here is wait a while before making any definitive calls on Rishi Sunak's political prospects. He has done the easy part. The next bit is going to be a whole lot tougher. The current fiasco is but a taster for the much bigger stuff to come.
Unless the government are just going to keep the taps flowing forever, the screaming over "austerity" (which we many cases were mostly just slowing increasing) that Cameron and Osborne oversaw is going to be a breeze compared to when 100,000s of people realise that furlough scheme was actually extended redundancy.
The government are either going to go full Corbyn or have to get a lot smarter about which battle to fight and be willing to stay strong.
Considering that millions went onto the furlough scheme, if only 100,000s get redundancy that will be a huge success.
Being forced kicking and screaming into ensuring vulnerable kids do not go hungry is not a great look. But it is better than actually letting them go hungry.
The major takeaway here is wait a while before making any definitive calls on Rishi Sunak's political prospects. He has done the easy part. The next bit is going to be a whole lot tougher. The current fiasco is but a taster for the much bigger stuff to come.
I think Sunak has come over quite well thus far. And yet I sense - and I mean I strongly sense - that he is a bubble waiting for the prick.
Which is not great, but I suppose is better than the opposite.
All the tabloids are going big on the Rashford story. It has a David-and-Goliath and Roy of the Rovers, working-class young footballer beats the government angle, which brings people back together after the culture wars, and has a unifying and popular aspect. Very interesting.
Problem here is that there is an 80 seat majority. However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government. And they'll give in.
Correct. The message is Johnson can be pushed around by anyone who stamps their feet and shrieks enough.
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
How can you possibly say that after the Dom incident? Right or wrong he rode out the twitter storm for 10 days.
We're not party to the amount of foot stamping and shrieking done by Dom.
Maybe not but we were certainly privy to everyone else's (including some mildly embarrassing thread headers on here claiming it was the biggest story in, well, anything over the last hour would have been hyperbole). You'd like to think that some of that hysterical ranting had led to some self reflection. But no.
Government desperately needs inner cabinet + Alistair Campbell running a small team spotting clouds before they become thunder storms.
On a serious note social media is resulting in part of the population including many celebrities participating in a frenzy of agitation. Is this a virtual '68? The frenzy even exceeds the last GE and yet another GE is 4 years away. What is going to give? Will it deflate or explode in some way?
It already kinda exploded a lidl bit on the last couple of weekends.
Wonderful law of unintended consequences here for the left. They've just campaigned to introduce a voucher based entitlement. Something that they (and I) have campaigned against for years has just been cheered across the line.
More than 3 minutes spent thinking on this and they'll begin to realise what a gigantic error they've made. Instead of vouchers they should have asked for £120m in additional child tax credits.
All the tabloids are going big on the Rashford story. It has a David-and-Goliath and Roy of the Rovers, working-class young footballer beats the government angle, which transcends the current culture wars, and has a unifying, widely popular aspect. Very interesting.
Rashford for PM c.2040? It's not beyond the realms of possibility. Perhaps we'll see Trump as a trailblazer by then!
Comments
Year 7 start lesson 3 for 15 minutes, break for lunch and then return for the rest of the lesson.
Lower income families are seeing their income cut and pre-COVID they may just about have been able to put food on the table but it may be a bigger struggle right now, so to offer it for six weeks would be an easy way out of this, especially considering the sum is dwarfed by other economic support the government is offering.
Dexamethasone is a life-saving coronavirus drug
A cheap and widely available drug called dexamethasone can help save the lives of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus.
UK experts say the low-dose steroid treatment is major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus.
It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53061281
Govt 0
Rashford 44 mins (pen)
Like with Scott the Brexit delusion is strong with Marina.
Why are you keen to pretend, for free school meals and free school meals only, that all is well otherwise and we aren't facing an economic, social, and mental health crisis at the same time?
Burn Political Capital
Burn Political Capital
Burn Political Capital
Burn Political Capital
Cave in
day
https://twitter.com/Smyth_Chris/status/1272861586886209537?s=20
He simply can't.
You can judge this government by its original intentions which on this and the health surcharge show where it’s true heart is , if of course you can find it !
If they were prepared to take the necessary pay cut I think he and Raheem Stirling ought to be brought into the cabinet.
We could do a lot worse. We are doing a lot worse, let's face it.
Not sure if this is a bold move on his part or whether he is too stupid to notice that everyone is running for cover on one of these days. So far it has done him no harm in my opinion.
Given their internal policy proposals, hopefully they make a whole series of u-turns over the next few years.
However, it is led by people who showed how to get your way is to openly oppose your own government.
And they'll give in.
We've got 4 more years of this sh*t to go folks!
He can't say no. He cannot tough out a few bad headlines.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/16/eu-vows-try-everything-possible-get-brexit-trade-deal-done-time/
Feeding kids during a pandemic is the right thing to do, sacking trusted advisors because of a witchhunt is not.
Chose the right thing to reverse on.
Oh, too late.
He is the lipstick on the pig or the shit on the shoe depending how you view things.
Now it is back to piss poor decisions and media management.
The major takeaway here is wait a while before making any definitive calls on Rishi Sunak's political prospects. He has done the easy part. The next bit is going to be a whole lot tougher. The current fiasco is but a taster for the much bigger stuff to come.
The biggest problem with Theresa May's social care plan is that most people don't think there's a problem that needs fixing. Sure, the media occasionally talks about the problems (pre-COVID I mean), but I don't think most people worry about it and that's because it isn't relentlessly in the news. People don't know that government takes away people's housing to pay for care, which is why the opposition was able to paint May as wanting to steal your house.
1) Cummings should have been told to offer a resignation that Boris then refused due to the current crisis (would have played better and removed all the sting immediately)
2) Likewise the free school meals scheme should have been allowed to continue into September due to Covid.
In both cases all they've done is distract people from more important things.
The government are either going to go full Corbyn or have to get a lot smarter about which battle to fight and be willing to stay strong. Weak and wobbly an even worse look for a government than one where some decisions seem harsh, but for a reason.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53061281
On the contrary, it's exactly the same - indeed worse, because the government won a majority on a populist platform and has the right to appoint any advisers it chooses. The last time I checked, no footballer had any of that democratic legitimacy.
Since populism is now explicitly the name of the game for all sides, roll on the abolition of DfID!
https://twitter.com/estwebber/status/1272809112863158275
On a serious note social media is resulting in part of the population including many celebrities participating in a frenzy of agitation. Is this a virtual '68? The frenzy even exceeds the last GE and yet another GE is 4 years away. What is going to give? Will it deflate or explode in some way?
Which is not great, but I suppose is better than the opposite.
Obviously not
More than 3 minutes spent thinking on this and they'll begin to realise what a gigantic error they've made. Instead of vouchers they should have asked for £120m in additional child tax credits.
https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1272862394176462848?s=20
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/mar/15/hammonds-nics-u-turn-is-a-political-disaster-for-the-government