The Labour Party has called for backbench Conservative MPs to “defy Boris Johnson” and vote to support Marcus Rashford’s campaign for the extension of free school meals over the holidays.
A vote on the matter is set to take place in parliament on Wednesday.
It comes after the Wythenshawe-born Manchester United and England star launched an online petition last week in which he urged the government to make three commitments to support vulnerable children as part of the ongoing #endchildfoodpoverty campaign.
The campaign is supported by the Child Food Poverty Task Force – which was formed by Rashford – as well as a further 20 charities and key names in the food industry.
Remember when I said I was going to need your help…
For the millions who do not have the platform to be heard.
Upon the launch of the petition last week, Rashford said: “With the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, I am calling for government to allocate money to:
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Expand free school meals to all under-16s where a parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefit
Provide meals & activities during all holidays
Increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to at least £4.25 per week, and expand the scheme.”
However, these calls were met with rejection by No. 10, as the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson stated that the campaign would not be supported as “we’re in a different position now with schools back open to all pupils”.
They continued: “It’s not for schools to regularly provide food to pupils during the school holidays. We believe the best way to support families outside of term time is through Universal Credit rather than government subsidising meals.”
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Marcus Rashford then responded saying: “This is not going anytime soon and neither am I…”
Merry Christmas kids…
It’s also not for food banks to feed millions of British children but here we are. 250% increase in food poverty and rising…
Now, MP Tulip Siddiq – who is also Labour’s Shadow Children and Early Years Minister – has written to every backbench Conservative MP asking them to support Labour’s proposal, which would “provide additional support to over 1.4 million children in every school holiday until Easter”.
Speaking on the release of the proposal, Siddiq said: “Families across the country are worrying about how to make ends meet, but the Prime Minister is ruling out giving over a million children food support over the holidays.
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“Every Conservative MP now has an opportunity to make it clear that they will support the families in their constituency who are worrying about how they will put food on the table in the weeks ahead.”
? My letter to Conservative MPs calling on them to join @UKLabour in backing the extension of free school meals over the holidays in this pandemic.
Let’s see how many Tories will put principles before party and vote to feed hungry children this winter. pic.twitter.com/VNSXivSJrV
Over a million children are at risk of going hungry over the holidays without access to free school meals. It is essential the Government provides this support urgently.
In the letter, she expresses how “deeply disappointed” she is to learn of the Prime Minister’s spokesperson’s rejection this proposal.
The letter continues: “I believe that it is essential that the government changes course as a matter of urgency so that children do not have to go without food over the holidays. I am sure you recognise that free school meals are an important means of support for families across your constituency, many of whom will be worrying about how they put food on the table over the half-term and Christmas holidays.”
Labour also confirmed via the letter that: “If the government does not urgently U-turn, we will force a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday.”
You can read Labour’s statement in full ahead of the vote in parliament here.
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‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
The Manc -
20th October 2020 
