HUNGRY KID SNUB LIKE OLIVER TWIST
Meals anger of children’s rights chief
THE Government’s failure to back Marcus Rashford’s campaign to feed children in school holidays was like a scene from Oliver Twist, a top official said.
Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield said she was “horrified” that MPS were even debating “whether we should make sure that hungry and vulnerable children have enough to eat”.
It was “strikingly similar to something we’d expect to see in chapters of Oliver Twist – a novel published in the 19th Century”, she said.
“We’re a wealthy country. It’s 2020,’’ Ms Longfield added.
She spoke out after MPS rejected Rashford’s campaign to extend free meals during the school holidays until Easter by a majority of over 60 in the House of Commons.
At the same time we revealed how taxpayers subsided politicians’ meals in Commons’ dining rooms to the tune of £ 2.6million last year.
Ms Longfield said the welfare system “needs to work better” to protect youngsters as child poverty levels were rising during the pandemic.
She said she had been told Prime Minister Boris Johnson “understands this” and “people around him” were “having positive discussions about this”.
But she said a tweet by Tory MP Ben Bradley which appeared to agree with a comment suggesting some meal vouchers went direct to “a crack den and a brothel” was “deeply disrespectful”.
Mood
She said that the comment was
“another distraction” from the child poverty issue.’’
Senior Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin said: “I think we have to admit that we have misunderstood the mood of the country here. The public want to see the Government taking a lead on this.’’
Meanwhile, 2,200 members of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have written an open letter to
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging a U- turn. They said: “Families who were previously managing are now struggling to make ends meet because of the impact of Covid- 19.
“It is not good enough to send them into the holiday period hoping for the best while knowing that many will simply go hungry.’’
Scores of restaurants, cafes and bars nationwide and several local authorities are offering free meals to youngsters throughout half- term in support of Manchester United and England ace Rashford, 22.
A Government spokesman said they had “expanded eligibility for free school meals to more children than any other in decades”.