Chancellor Rishi Sunak has snubbed a call from footballer Marcus Rashford to continue the free school holiday meals policy.
Writing a joint letter with supermarket bosses and food industry leaders, which was first reported in the Sunday Times, the England and Manchester United forward urged the government to extend the programme for for the next three years – including outside of term time.
The signatories, including representatives from Sainsbury’s, Asda and Co-op, say the scheme was “a great success” during the earlier stages of the coronavirus pandemic, after the government was forced to U-turn and set aside £170m to help feed disadvantaged children over the Christmas holidays following Rashford’s campaigning.
After the government’s change of heart, Rashford said he was “so proud” of those who had united behind his campaign and that he was “overwhelmed by the outpouring of empathy and understanding”.
Almost a year on and the footballer is again throwing his weight behind another child food poverty campaign.
But Mr Sunak said as provisions such as furlough have now come to an end, so too should the provision of free school meals during the holidays.
“So we put in place some measures to help families during coronavirus, that was the right thing to do, and in common with the other things that have now come to an end, whether it was furlough or other things, that’s right that we’ve transitioned to a more normal way of doing things,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“But we have replaced… but we have actually already acted, is what I’d say to Marcus and everyone else. We’ve put in place something called the holiday activities programme, which provides not just meals but also activities for children during holiday periods for those families that need extra help.
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Source : skynews
