Marcus Rashford has called out the government over its scant food parcels for schoolchildren
It took a sustained campaign from Marcus Rashford to get the government to agree – reluctantly – to keep providing struggling families with free meals for their children while schools were closed, and it now seems the provision falls very far short of the mark.
Someone named Roadside Mum revealed what she had been given for 10 days. It was, frankly, pathetic.
#FreeSchoolMeals bag for 10 days:
2 days jacket potato with beans
8 single cheese sandwiches2 days carrots
3 days apples
2 days soreen
3 days frubesSpare pasta & tomato. Will need mayo for pasta salad.
Issued instead of £30 vouchers. I could do more with £30 to be honest. pic.twitter.com/87LGUTHXEu
— Roadside Mum 🐯 (@RoadsideMum) January 11, 2021
Jack Monroe, who is a food blogger, cookery book author and only too well aware of the difficulty of feeding a family on very little money, took a guess at the value of the sparce provisions.
That’s about a fivers worth of food there, someone is making a mint out of this!!!
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) January 11, 2021
An educated guess.
Priced via Asda:
Bread 89p
Beans 85p
Carrots 15p
Apples 42p
Potatoes 22p
Tomato 11p
Cheese £1.45
Frubes 33p
Pasta 10p
Soreen 40p
Bananas 30pPublic funds were charged £30. I'd have bought this for £5.22.
The private company who have the #FSM contract made good profit here.
— Roadside Mum 🐯 (@RoadsideMum) January 11, 2021
To underline the problem, this is what a £30 shop looks like at one discount supermarket.
My £30 spend at Lidl. pic.twitter.com/k60HpnKEwT
— Gyll King (@GyllKing) January 11, 2021
The shameful haul came to the attention of Marcus Rashford.
Where is this being rolled out?
If families are entitled to £30 worth of food, why is there delivery only equating to just over £5?! 1 child or 3, this what they are receiving? Unacceptable https://t.co/SNblZ1wl5P— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 11, 2021
3 days of food for 1 family…
Just not good enough. pic.twitter.com/Y7FJEFFAma— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 11, 2021
Other people were also understandably appalled.
The Tories have given millions to their donors in contracts. They’ve wasted BILLIONS on inadequate PPE.
But THIS is what they think kids from the poorest families deserve?!
This isn’t just incompetence. It’s a failure of their priorities and their values. Shameful. https://t.co/3osbeeM2Tr
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) January 11, 2021
There are two explanations for this:
1. Overt corruption: someone has spent £5 and pocketed the £30.
2. Covert corruption: state procurement is so ineffective that the public gets charged £30 for something worth £5. https://t.co/FaMzK6R7R7
— Grace Blakeley (@graceblakeley) January 11, 2021
This food box is appealing and day light robbery. Parents are meant to be given £30 of food but this must be worth £5. The reason food handouts rarely work is that people can usually buy better, more and food they likely when they are empowered with the vouchers and money. https://t.co/1aTB5Yf54s
— Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP🌹🇪🇺🏳️🌈 (@lloyd_rm) January 11, 2021
If £30 per head was allocated, someone is taking food straight from the mouths of children. https://t.co/oCPikJMRbY
— Esyllt Sears (@EsylltMair) January 11, 2021
Government doesn't give families the cash for their kids' free school meals for the very simple reason that they hold them in contempt. Simple as that. They think it'll all get blown on cigs and booze. So they hand contracts to big companies instead and the result is … crap
— Otto English (@Otto_English) January 12, 2021
This is why I cannot stand the words, 'We're all in this together."
We never have been. Never will be. https://t.co/xjPcimYp4V
— Hugh Woozencroft (@HughWoozencroft) January 12, 2021
