The Telegraph published this video item, entitled “Charities and businesses step up to feed Britain’s kids as Rashford’s school meals campaign ramps up” – below is their description.
As the British government maintains its stance on refusing to provide free school this half-term, charities, churches and businesses are filling the void and providing free meals to Britain’s hungry children. “Poverty and hungry children is everybody’s business,” says Sheena Eastwood, Centre Manager at St Vincents, Leeds, “Everybody has a part to play in this because we shouldn’t have hungry children in Leeds, or in any part of the country”. Former ministers are leading a growing Tory revolt on free school meals as they told Boris Johnson to come up with “something better” or they would vote against the Government. Up to 100 Tory MPs were said to be sharing furious texts over the Government’s handling of England footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign for free school meals in the holidays, and the way it handed a political coup to Labour. MPs described it as “shockingly inept”, a “political disaster”, and “hopeless communication” as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer took advantage of the Tory disarray to pledge a second vote on Rashford’s appeal for free meals for children in need to be funded over the school holidays until Easter 2021. Conservative former minister Tim Loughton has said he would vote to maintain free meals during the pandemic if there was another Commons division after saying it was a “mistake” by the Government not to extend it during the holidays. “It is not a question of voting with Labour. It is actually voting for what is right, and I think it is right to carry on free school cover. Free school meals is just one of those totemic things, it is like the NHS, it can do no wrong,” he said. “I just don’t think it was worth the argument: not spending £20 million on further extending the school meal cover over the coming half term was just politically a mistake.” He urged the Government to rethink its refusal to back down and introduce a scheme similar to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out Help Out but for schools, which would ensure the money went to children and benefited businesses. Subscribe to The Telegraph on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/3idrdLH
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