That's telling her!

Well it's got us discussing homelessness - and maybe many more - so what's not to like? - as they say.

Yes, you're right durhamjen - I'm sorry to have gone off on a tangent but, in my view, it was inevitable that people would focus on the age of the girl rather than the very desperate issue of homelessness.

Apart from the people who are actually sleeping on the street, there is a huge amount of "hidden" homelessness - individuals and families who are in temporary accommodation - either provided by Councils or by family and friends.

And I read yesterday that Gavin Barwell, the Housing Minister, is thinking of getting rid of minimum space standards for private housing. What a terrible idea. British homes are already the smallest in Europe and he is proposing allowing developers to build even smaller homes. No wonder so many people have mental health problems.

Received a leaflet from Shelter today.

2500 - the number of people sleeping on the streets in England every night.

55000 - families currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation in England - 11% higher than last year.

Lots more single people are not counted as homeless because they can usually find a friend's floor to sleep on for a night, and then move on to another friend's floor, but nowhere permanent to call home.

www.greathomedebate.org.uk/?reserved_appeal_code=20160402-GHD-IG-10&utm_source=Shelter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GHD_shelter_referral

Shouldn't the point and the discussion be about homelessness, not about whether the girl has been primed to say what she did or not?
I've now looked at a few of the mother's blogs, and I do not think the daughter was primed.
Her husband has a brain tumour and she has another video about that. That was put on two weeks ago.

In five weeks time there is going to be a lot more homelessness because of the new benefits cap.
The girl is right. Theresa May can do something about it.

When you walk past someone sleeping in a doorway and your grandchildren ask about it, do you tell them not to talk about it to people?

Here's the mother's response to internet trolls.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pc-r0ckAXY

It looked to me that the Mother had taught the child to say this off by heart, to me this seems like a total set up.

It's okay annsixty I don't mind..... I'm used to it but your post is much appreciated.

I agree thatbags my DGD (8) is a Brownie and her Brownie "Promise" is very similar to the scouts promise. No longer any mention of God and although I would rather there were no mention of HRH either I would never say that to DGD .But hey ho you can't have it all .

The Girl Guide Association was a few years ahead of the Scout Assoc.

It can be interpreted, eloethan. One can define "duty to the Queen" in various ways, including for it to mean duty to one's country, which means obeying the law, basically. That is, in fact, how all the adult scouts I knew, including me, interpreted it. I was among those who campaigned to get the god bit dropped so that atheists could be scouts. Until a few years ago they couldn't. People who have religious faith can still include the god bit.

thatbags

An oath is defined as A "solemn promise". The scouts now have to make this promise:

On my honour, I promise that I will do my best
To uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to the Queen,
To help other people
And to keep the Scout Law.

I don't have much of an issue with this but, as a republican, I am not very happy about children being forced to promise to "do their duty to the Queen" if they wish to join the cubs. It used to be "God and the Queen" (whatever that means) but "God" has been removed. My son wanted to join the cubs and we didn't feel we should stop him. He didn't like it anyway as the woman who ran it (I don't know what she's called) shouted a lot and my son's friend left, followed a few weeks later by my son.

I have just caught up and should point out that I used the word precocious before gillybob did and I still think that is the case. Sorry gilly if you caught flak I should have had.

I don't think promising to do one's best to uphold scout values, do one's duty and help people is an oath. It's a suitable promise for a child to make and a good standard (doing their best) for them to aim at.

members.scouts.org.uk/fundamentals/?pageid=2944

Never mind.

Anya

In response to your post to myself , yes I did read your post.

I ' did not ' say there wasn't a problem but I was pointing out the fact if you bring politics into it and blame only one person or party then it is politicising and frankly opens up to scrutiny. . Leamington Spa is not particularly any different to many UK towns and cities but I repeat people are 'sleeping rough' for many reasons and perhaps it would be wise to tell the child so. Did the parents explain the complications to the 5 year old? or perhaps that doesn't fit the remit of the intended video, who knows?

We will view the video differently , simply that.

No matter how much anybody will assume it is because Theresa May has been mentioned I feel that way but I assure you are way off course in your thinking but no doubt I could shout from the roof top and not believed. It could have been Corbyn, Brown, Blair , Clegg, Fallon it matters not one jot as to the way I think.

I'd seen this before and must admit I felt quite uncomfortable about a 5 year old propounding such views - even though I have sympathy with what she said. When we went to the Science Museum recently my granddaughter also asked why people were sleeping on the streets and we talked about it in general terms. I don't like Theresa May but she and the Conservative Party alone cannot be blamed for such things - governments are voted for by the people. My granddaughter is a fairly confident and articulate little girl but I can't imagine her, at the age of 6, being able to put together such a speech without some prompting - and, even if she could and it was completely spontaneous, I would not put it on YouTube.

I feel equally uncomfortable about children being taken out of classrooms to go and wave flags at the Queen or having to repeat oaths in order to join the brownies/cubs - even if they are keen to do so.

That lass on Outnumbered made the show - she was brilliant.

Luckygirl - did you never watch the little girl on "Outnumbered?" Her lines were unscripted but she had been given the subject matter on which to improvise and she just had to act with passion. Very successfully too.
I've watched many a young child deliver a presentation at school and like the one in the video they are following eye and gesture instructions from the onlooker. I doubt very much whether at the end thia young one would have linked homelessness to rules (laws) by herself. Chocolate biscuits maybe!
No nasty, angry comments on this thread, just perceptive opinions.

Exploitation of a small child, presumably to air the parents' political views.

I don't think 'Theresa' is at all like 'Margaret'.

1. Her use of the word millions is clearly child-speak for lots - all my GC do this.
2. Her passion on the subject is laudable - it does not sound contrived to me.
3. No 5 year old could be persuaded to stand up and speak with such passion if they did not want to.
4. Her logic and grasp of the subtleties of the issue are clearly those of a 5 year old - one would expect nothing else.
5. Should she have been filmed? Should it have gone up on Youtube? Both debatable I think.

And of course, it's all Theresa May's fault . At least the child is only a child. There are older people with the same immature outlook.

This post doesn't say anything about my political leanings either. I know some people make assumptions

I think you've missed the point, f77ms. I for one would feel exactly the same if the child was admonishing Jeremy Corbyn for not doing enough about the homeless problem.

My post has nothing to do with political affiliation, f77ms

I do not like small children being exploited.

I think all the nasty/angry comments about this little girl just shows how ignorant people really are . Would these same people be venting there spleen if she was criticizing a different political party - I doubt it . Teresa May is Maggie Thatcher on steroids , a thoroughly unpleasant `lady` who is now pretending to be on the side of the working class for votes .

Of course the intention was for it to go viral willsmadnan . It was deliberately set up and posted in order to attract media attention. I could have set up/filmed/posted hundreds of recordings of my 3 DGC. Some funny, some serious. But I never would. I agree that it is brainless emotional blackmail set up by parents who should know better than to exploit their 5 year old child.

As with the vast majority of YouTube type videos I expect the intention was for it to go viral. After all, how many of us actually have our iPhone's activated to record our grandchildren, cats, dogs et al at the drop of a hat? Cynical, political and manipulative IMO. I confess to not having watched it, as I don't ever get sucked into this brainless type of emotional blackmail. I never watch videos of cats playing in cardboard boxes either

I agree with merlotgran, there's an element of disrespect here with the finger wagging and the use of the Christian name. Kids will soon be starting letters with "Dear Nicholas" to Father Christmas!
I'm not comfortable with the video being on social media either. It's over rehearsed and she is being prompted in several occasions. Why would parents want to display their little one like this?