Chancellor Rishi Sunak has appeared to reject calls by footballer Marcus Rashford to extend free school meals over the Christmas period.
A consistent campaigner for free school meals in the UK, Mr Rashford most recently called on the government to extend the provision for children in a letter to The Sunday Times on Sunday, 24 October
Calling for levelling-up to “begin with guaranteeing that every child in Britain can eat well — at least once a day”, he came together with food industry leaders from a number of organisations including Fareshare, Deliveroo, Sainsbury’s, Kellogg’s, Asda, Nestle and Iceland to ask the government to do more.
The letter went on to lay out the costs of extending free school meals and Healthy Start for more children over the next three years: 1% of the education budget and 4% of annual spending on obesity.
The signatories also added that failure to extend to provision would “deepen and extend the scarring caused by the pandemic on our youngest citizens and ultimately our economy.”
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Speaking to BBC One‘s ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ about the requests in the letter, Mr Sunak said that it was “right” the provision of free school meals should come to an end.
Will the government extend free school meals through the Christmas break, as Marcus Rashford has called for?
The Chancellor told the show that as other additional support, such as furlough and the £20 weekly Universal Credit uplift, had finished it was “right” the government had “transitioned to a more normal way of doing things.”
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He said: “So we put in place some measures to help families during coronavirus, that was the right thing to do, and in common with the other things that have now come to an end, whether that was furlough or other things that’s right that we’ve transitioned to a more normal way of doing things.
“But we have replaced… but we have actually already acted, is what I’d say to Marcus and everyone else.
“We’ve put in place something called the Holiday Activities programme, which provides not just meals but also activities for children during holiday periods for those families that need extra help.”
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Marcus Rashford and other campaigners continue to push for free school meals in England ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn budget statement on Wednesday, 27 October.
They have already been extended in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Featured Image – BBC One / The Andrew Marr Show
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‘Prolific’ South Manchester burglar jailed for thefts which included peanuts…
Daisy Jackson
A ‘prolific’ burglar has been jailed for just over two years, for numerous thefts including sunglasses, airpods, and peanuts…
The man was caught red-handed inside someone’s property, where he claimed he was just wanting a glass of water – but was found by police officers to have the resident’s car keys in his pocket.
Fazal Alnesi, 26, from Moss Side, was then linked to a number of other burglaries, attempted burglaries, and thefts across South Manchester.
Fazal was sentenced to 27 months at Manchester Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to offences including six counts of burglary in June of this year.
He was arrested on 12 June, when a man returned to his home in Fallowfield in the early hours of the morning and discovered Fazal inside his address.
He claimed he was there because he wanted a glass of water but subsequently refused to leave, which led to police being called.
Officers placed Alnensi in handcuffs and found the resident’s car keys in his pocket, as well as indications that he’d been rummaging through the man’s drawers.
He was later linked to other thefts include a wrench set from a car, a pedal cycle worth £350, airpods, sunglasses – and even peanuts from one address.
He additionally took an electric bike charger from one address worth hundreds of pounds.
PC Jon Holden, from GMP’s City of Manchester district, said: “Alnensi took various items from several homes and cars across a two-week period earlier this year, making off with hundreds of pounds worth of goods.
“Ultimately, Alnensi left people feeling unsafe in his own home, and I am glad he is now behind bars.
“Our team will investigate all burglaries, and I would encourage people to get in touch with us – all intelligence helps us lock up criminals and bring them to justice.”
The top 10 ‘happiest’ places to live in the North West in 2026 have been named
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 happiest places to live in the North West have been named for 2026.
It comes as Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index this week, just as it has done for the last 14 years now, exploring exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlighting the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year – with thousands of residents across more than 200 locations providing feedback.
The residents told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community, from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlined the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
So, when it comes to the North West as a whole then, where do we have in the top 10?
Well, to kick things off, you may have already seen that one Lancashire market town has earned its place in the top 10 nationwide, not just for the North West region – and that’s Chorley.
Closest to the Bolton and Wigan boroughs, Chorley – which is is about a 40-minute drive outside of Manchester, and sits on a direct train route into the city centre.
But aside from the national top 10, when it comes to the regional top 10, the next two towns following Chorley in second and third are both in Greater Manchester.
The North West’s top 10 happiest places to live 2026
Chorley
Stockport
Altrincham
Chester
Macclesfield
Southport
Kendal
Wirral
Northwich
Carlisle
Altrincham has been named one of the North West’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The ever-thriving Stockport comes in at number two, followed by Trafford favourite Altrincham directly behind it at number three.
Other of the region’s inclusions like Bury, Bolton, Wigan, and the Manchester borough itself all ranked towards the bottom.
Speaking on this year’s list, Colleen Babcock – a property expert at Rightmove – explained: “The balance between greenery and everyday convenience runs through the wider findings. Even among people who would ideally choose a rural setting, access to amenities, parks and public transport remains important.
“This year’s results suggest that the places people rate most highly aren’t simply urban or rural, but often bring together some of the best elements of both.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
Georgina Pellant -
25th October 2021 
