Johnson ‘agrees images of hampers being shared are unacceptable.’
Boris Johnson has told Marcus Rashford the government are conducting a full review of the free school meals supply chain after photographs circulated on Twitter of pitiful meal hampers.
This week, free school meals became the centre of political discourse again, as Twitter user RoadsideMum posted a photo of the food hamper she was sent that she said was meant to feed her children for 10 days.
The value of the contents came to around £5 and was distributed instead of sending parents £30 in vouchers to spend on food for their children. This sparked outrage on Twitter, and Rashford got to work.
The Manchester United star, as he has done for the past year, highlighted the widespread issue of insufficient food hampers being sent to struggling parents, saying it is ‘just not good enough.’
3 days of food for 1 family…
Just not good enough. pic.twitter.com/Y7FJEFFAma— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 11, 2021
On Tuesday, Rashford wrote a long thread on Twitter explaining the information he had received from Chartwells UK, the company who produce the hampers, before saying he had to log off for a few hours because he had a football match to play.
The noise he made on Twitter, with the help of parents across the nation, worked. On Wednesday morning Rashford tweeted that he had spoken on the phone with the prime minister, who assured him that “he is committed to correcting the issue with the food hampers and that a full review of the supply chain is taking place. He agrees that images of hampers being shared on Twitter are unacceptable.”
Just had a good conversation with the Prime Minister. He has assured me that he is committed to correcting the issue with the food hampers and that a full review of the supply chain is taking place. He agrees that images of hampers being shared on Twitter are unacceptable.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 13, 2021
Meanwhile, health secretary Matt Hancock was made to look foolish on Good Morning Britain when asked about the matter by Piers Morgan.
“I am glad that they have apologised, they have clearly got to up their game, Hanccok told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.
“I want to see good high-quality food, I am really glad that we are able to send out food for those who receive free school meals when schools are in and I am really glad that we are able to do that when schools are out.”
“If you are that glad, can I just ask you a difficult question: why did you vote against it?” Morgan then asked Hancock.
He did not answer the question properly, saying: “Well I am really able we were able to put it into place.”
Tory MPs disgracing themselves doesn’t end there, either. Of course it doesn’t. MP for Mid Derbyshire Pauline Latham told Channel 4’s Jon Snow last night: “It’s only their lunch, it’s not all meals every day. It’s enough for lunches for a child for a week… Usually.”
