No such thing as a free lunch
November 24th, 2008

Two big policy announcements have been the talk of Parliament this week.

On the face of it, it is difficult to argue with either of them – energy assistance for our fuel poor and free school lunches for our youngest schoolchildren.

But if you scratch under the surface, you are reminded that nothing is simple in politics and the age old game of priorities kicks in.

Fuel poverty is a pressing issue given the fluctuations in prices and with the cold months now upon us, I was happy to welcome the new measures that will help families in need of relief from mounting bills.

But the new strategy announced this week will leave some people quite literally out in the cold.

Unlike under the previous scheme, pensioners are no longer universally entitled to a free central heating system unless they meet certain criteria because a means test has been applied.

It is hard to justify making pensioners on a fixed income pay the price for extending the scheme to other needy groups.

Meanwhile, the education committee gave its backing to plans to introduce free school meals for all primary one to three pupils.

While it is a great idea to ensure all of our youngest children get access to a healthy and nutritional lunch every day, cost implications then come into play.

With local authorities already feeling the squeeze and no new money forthcoming, it could mean other schemes like the breakfast clubs, after school support and possibly PE time suddenly put in jeopardy.

Of course, in an ideal world all our homes would be heated for winter and all our children well fed at school.

In reality, it leaves the government with some difficult choices to make and not everyone is going to like them.

As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch in politics and that has never been clearer than this week.