It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

euronorris

I follow her on tiktok, but her 'weekly' meal plan is only for the weekdays. And it's just dinners and no lunches or breakfast.

Though I do agree, her meals look amazing 😍

nanto3girls

Carte D'ior tubs of ice cream are 99p.

Broomstick

Living_proof said:

I’d like everyone’s suggestions for a meal for 30p a day please. I feel a failure for being unable to budget and obviously don’t know how to cook from scratch!

Has the Member from Ashfield lost the plot?

This 30p thing has been making me feel so cross all day. I have a rather long suggestion...

For a month, maybe in November this year (since the weather will be chilly, damp and dreich, and energy bills will have risen again), every non-pregnant* and non-breastfeeding MP and peer needs to start their day with porridge made from the cheapest oats soaked overnight, not cooked, and not adorned with expensive trimmings.  Then they need to commit to consuming two additional, 'nutritious' 30p (max) meals each day, and maybe one small snack as well (since I'm feeling generous).  This includes freebie biscuits at meetings - no more than three bickies over the whole day (again, I'm feeling generous). These 30p/meal limits apply whether participants bring in a packed lunch, eat out, work from home, are travelling in the UK or abroad, are throwing dinner parties, are celebrating birthdays, are on their days-off, or parliament is in recess. Late night sittings do not confer any additional benefits.  A film crew will cover the Member from Ashfield's personal experience of this month ready for a documentary to be shown over Christmas/New Year on a channel that is free-to-view for those who have cancelled their streaming subscriptions and TV licences.

Mr Anderson's Ashfield constituency food bank should be funded to run compulsory courses in Westminster on budgeting and cooking skills in the early autumn to ensure that all MPs and peers are able to benefit properly from the November 30p/meal challenge.  This might be especially relevant for those who have so far relied on boarding schools, college kitchens, restaurants and domestic staff to provide their meals for them.  They will be expected to give any private staff the month of November off on full-pay so that the MP/peer can self-cater at home when needed.   (Exceptions will be made for MPs and peers with any disability or illness that necessitates extra care from others.)   

MPs and peers whose estates include the means to grow, kill and butcher food, must declare all associated energy costs, value the food they consume from the estate at supermarket prices and include it in their 30p/meal calculations.  They need to be aware that they have limited energy use to cook or store perishable items (pheasant or venison for 5-10 mins in the microwave or on the hob may not be enough - I don't know - it's over 40 years since I've eaten or cooked any sort of meat from scratch).  MPs and peers are not allowed to spend the month drinking their way through their cellars in order to dull any difficulties they may encounter during the experiment.  It's probably best that no alcohol is consumed at all... after a quick think, I've decided that November has to be tee-total for MPs and peers (good practice anyway for Dry January, 2023).

Thermos flasks for hot, non-alcoholic drinks and home-made soup will be allowed (this is a generous concession).  If participants don't own a flask, however, and want one, they must source it from a charity shop.

The Houses of Parliament's restaurants, cafes, bars and other eateries must provide 'nutritious' meals at a maximum cost of 30p/meal to everyone through November (with maybe the surplus money that MPs and peers will be saving donated to suitable charities).  The catering departments can eek out their budgets with supermarket own-brand products, yellow-stickered ingredients, items with expired best-before dates, and foraged dandelions, chestnuts and mushrooms etc. from the central London parks. Fish from the Thames are probably best avoided because of the uncertainty about sewage discharge into the river at the moment.  Management have to allow the catering staff's queuing, shopping and foraging time within their work hours.  No member of catering staff is to be expected to do more than their normal hours given the anticipated stress that everyone will be under, although offers of properly remunerated overtime might be welcome.  If this isn't taken up, any extra workload must be managed by employing additional workers on proper contracts.  (Staff are not expected to follow any 30p/meal or other food-related restrictions themselves.)

All kitchen facilities (whether MP's offices or homes, or parliament's kitchens) should be limited to kettles, minimal use of microwaves, and minimal use of hobs. Other labour saving devices such as food processors or slow cookers are not allowed for the duration of the experiment. Many of Lee Anderson's poorest constituents won't own these and ovens are forbidden because small households can't afford these.

All the utilities' meters in Westminster's eateries, including for cooking costs, dishwashers, fridges and washing machines (for tablecloths and napkins) should be read daily and the information made public so that these hidden costs, over and above the 30p/meal per person, are made visible. Leftovers can be offered as part of the next days' menus because there will be no long-term chilled storage available (again, many of Lee Anderson's poorest constituents won't own a freezer) and food waste is highly discouraged. 

Anyone cheating should be fined a percentage of their salary - seems fair? - or maybe, in the case of some MPs have their entertainment expenses claims cancelled .  The whole scheme should be monitored by a team of impartial nutritionists and energy experts who are not politically aligned or linked to the major food producers, energy companies or sellers.  They will be asked to contribute to the documentary.

To be safe, and probably to avoid being sued for any medical disasters, MPs and peers should be checked over by their GPs before November (if they can get appointments to see them) to ensure that they are healthy enough to participate, and again afterwards (if they can get appointments) to ensure that their health, including their mental health, hasn't suffered.

End of rant. Sigh.

* Actually, for any pregnant MP who is suffering badly from morning sickness, can I suggest that the cheapest porridge might be worth trying?  From my experience, things always felt much better when I'd thrown up my (first) breakfast.  Wasting money on food that was literally chucked away seemed pointless so the cheaper the better. 

Suffolksue

Brilliant Broomstick!

Wicked_Lady

@Broomstick

Your post needs sending to The Times letters!

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Agree with both SuffolkSue & Wicked_lady 👏 I would add to that by saying that if they refuse to participate, they should be made to pay punitive damages of 3 months salary from ALL sources - not just their MP salaries 😉

YorksLass

Broomstick, that's the best laugh I've had for a long time - brilliant!

euronorris

Love it @Broomstick ! I suspect though, that they will flap and fluster at the suggestion, before listing off excuses (that hold no water).

I tell you what though, I'd have more respect for any that agreed to do it!

Broomstick

euronorris said:

Love it @Broomstick ! I suspect though, that they will flap and fluster at the suggestion, before listing off excuses (that hold no water).

I tell you what though, I'd have more respect for any that agreed to do it!

It might be a good way to sort the wheat from the chaff in the run up to the next election! 

It's occurred to me that, had they all been trying to live within a 'realistic' Lee Anderson budget, none of those troublesome 'parties' would have happened, would they?  Even if you counted it as your evening meal, 30p doesn't buy many nibbles and bottles of drink: maybe a large glass of supermarket own brand fizzy water with a dash of cordial and a bag of crisps from a multipack?  Not really worth staying around for. 

ladyholly

I have said for a long time that all MPs should have to live on Universal credit for at least one month before they can take a seat in the house. A few years ago one MP decided to do similar and his attitude changed mightily after his experience.

The one thing I do agree with is many people struggle to cook from scratch. Strangely my daughter and I were talking about this yesterday and she was saying proper cookery lessons at school might help. I cant count the number of people who have asked me how to make pastry for instance. Ok  not especially healthy but filling and a pie can be strtched a long way.