MATT Hancock has refused to say he regrets voting against free school meals – despite claiming to be “really glad” his government is now providing support.
The Health Secretary – accused of "gobsmacking" hypocrisy by the SNP – was quizzed on morning television amid a backlash over meagre portions being handed out to families in England.
The UK Government has promised to investigate after images shared online showed “woefully inadequate” free school meal parcels handed out by Chartwells, the firm hired by Downing Street to distribute the packages.
READ MORE: Receiving 'mean' food parcel was sad and depressing, mum says
Hancock was asked about the scheme on Good Morning Britain.
He said: "I'm really glad we're able to send out food for those who receive free school meals when schools are in, and I'm really glad we're able to do that when schools are out."
But co-host Piers Morgan interjected: "If you're that glad, can I ask you a question, why did you vote against it?"
"Well I'm really glad we're able to put it into place," the Health Secretary replied.
"Well if you're 'really glad' why did you as health secretary vote against this?" Morgan asked.
A stuttering Hancock answered: "Well ... because ... the reason I'm glad now is because we've been able to sort that out and put it in place".
"No thanks to you!" co-presenter Susanna Reid remarked.
"Let's be honest you got shamed into it by a young football player with a conscience who managed to prick the conscience of you and the government," added Morgan. "Do you regret now, given how glad you now are, voting against it?"
READ MORE: Tories can save their faux outrage at measly food parcels
Hancock refused to give a concrete response, merely insisting that he's really "glad that we've managed to get this result".
The Tory minister was condemned by the SNP’s education spokesperson at Westminster.
Carol Monaghan told The National: “Once again, the Tory hypocrisy on display here is simply gobsmacking. The Tories shouldn’t have had to be publicly shamed and condemned into choosing to feed hungry children – that is the basic duty of any government as examples from around the world show. Each and every Tory MP should be ashamed of their actions, not trying to claim credit for a decision they had to dragged kicking and screaming to make.
“Before the U-turn, a small army of Tory politicians were wheeled out to defend the indefensible and tell us the UK Government was already providing enough support. On top of this, Scottish Tory MPs voted to deprive Scotland of crucial Barnett funding – leaving the SNP government to fund Scotland's progressive free school meals policy from existing budgets. This whole sorry saga proves that you just can’t trust a Tory.”
She added: “The SNP Government will do what it can with its limited powers to continue to deliver progressive policies in Scotland despite the actions of Westminster – but it's clear that the only way to properly protect Scotland's interests, and our values, is to have the power to make these decisions for ourselves.”
Footballer Marcus Rashford, who led the campaigns which twice forced the UK Government into U-turns over school meals, has called for the system to fixed “quickly” amid complaints about measly portions.
He has since spoken to Boris Johnson directly about the issue. The Prime Minister is said to agree the situation is "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 MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 13, 2021
A spokesperson for Chartwells commented: “We have had time to investigate the picture circulated on Twitter. For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not 10 days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.
“However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel