Julia Hartley Brewer’s Unfree Breakfast

Tory-supporting pundits know their talking points, and make sure the lumpen proletariat know their place. School lunches for all? What a ghastly waste of money. School breakfasts for all? No, it’s so unnecessary. Who says so? As if you need to know, this is the latest example of how Julia Hartley Brewer, radio host and shameless promoter of Herself Personally Now, shows how out of touch she really is.

Don't they know who you are? Er, yes, that's sort of the problem

Ms Hartley Dooda has taken grave exception to the idea of her taxes contributing to all those hungry children actually being fed a half decent breakfast at school. I mean, how dare they? Before you know it, political parties will be suggesting that Talk Radio hosts use public transport, including buses. One does have certain standards to maintain.

And so it came to pass that Ms Hartley Dooda took to Twitter to register her displeasure: “New Tory policy offering free school breakfasts to all kids. When did it stop being parents' job to feed their kids?” Who manages for seven days on five days’ breakfast? Whatever. She still wasn’t happy: “there isn't a parent in this country who can't afford to feed their kids breakfast”. Her statistical expertise is quite magnificent. Or maybe it isn’t.

April Preston begged to differ. “I was one of these children which apparently do not exist”. What did the great radio host and after dinner somnambulism inducement specialist have to say about that? “Tell me about it. Why couldn't your parents afford to feed you?” Slightly presumptuous assumption there, as Ms Preston soon confirmed.

“My mothers husband died, my father, and she is half paralysed and deaf. Unable to work and pay bills. With two daughters”. But reply came there none. Ms Preston noted “Still nowt”. And waited. The response, when it came, was as kindly and understanding as might have been expected: “I was in a meeting. Some of us have jobs”.

Callous, much? Where was the empathy, the realisation that she might have been wrong? Paul Unwin was not pleased with Ms Hartley Dooda’s response: “Thank you April. If this is true @JuliaHB1 must answer you”. After Ms Preston replied “It is true”, he affirmed his stance. “Thank you. @JuliaHB1 please answer? You cannot say what you did and when challenged withdraw”. Well, most reasonable people couldn’t. Not her.

Indeed, after the callous and dismissive “I’ve been in a meeting because I’m important” response, and the cynical addition of “Well you're out of it. Care to answer?” from Ross McCafferty, Ms Hartley Dooda added some of that sniffy patronising, just to make sure the lower orders knew their place. “Sweetheart, this conversation happened just fine without your help. Move along” she sneered. Except it didn’t.

April Preston never got her response. And more importantly for Talk Radio’s mid morning weekday host, there was no admission of getting it wrong. And don’t even think of asking for an apology. One has more important things to do with one’s time.

Some people in this country are so poor that they have difficulty putting food on the table. And they aren’t all druggies and wastrels. Hello Julia Hartley Brewer.