No such thing as a free lunch – and we’ll all end up paying

I HAVE a feeling that the nation is fed up with the daily news being dominated by either Covid, Brexit, or American politics.

This is probably the reason why Captain Sir Tom Moore caught the public’s attention and at the age of 100 for his fundraising efforts.

And perhaps it is why there has been such a wave of support for footballer Marcus Rashford who has championed the cause of free school lunches.

But I am not sure it is a good idea that the taxpayer should be expected to support such a measure for all children – the key word being ‘all’.

Nobody wants to hear of children going hungry – and I do not believe that this is the case universally.

Sadly, yes, there will be circumstances where parents or, especially single parents, find themselves in financial difficulties.

It is therefore good news that Government has done another U-turn agreeing to provide funds to assist such families.

But now the number of such cases may increase when furloughing comes to an end in March.

That does not mean that there should be a blanket handout, but help should be quickly given where it is needed.

I appreciate that this could create administrative problems, but the Government has the resources to deal speedily with applications.

I would have been much more impressed with Rashford, who is reputed to earn more than £10 million a year, if he had campaigned for all Premier League soccer players, some 250 at least, to help fund the provision of school children’s lunches.

Top footballers earn a great deal of money, though I accept their careers are relatively very short.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak does not have a magic money tree, and the bills that we as a nation are running up have to be paid for in the future.

A touch of Gordon Brown’s prudence is necessary.