Boris Johnson’s baby food advisor says he’s ‘not doing enough’ and ‘must act’

Boris Johnson’s own food czar has said he “is not doing enough” to help starving children and “must act” on a devastating verdict against the government.

Ministers are looking to Henry Dimbleby’s Christmas Food and Activities program as a way to break the free school meal stalemate.

But Leon’s founder chimed in today to say he had no idea what the government is planning, and that there must be faster action.

Dimbleby told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “This problem is real, it’s serious, it’s immediate, and it’s going to get worse as employment gets worse.

“The government is not doing enough.

“One in seven families already reports that they cannot afford enough food.

“Unemployment projections range from 1.4 million at the end of the year to 4.4 million… and we know that prior to this crisis, 17 million workers only had savings of £ 100 to draw on.

“So we are going to have a situation in which many people with high fixed costs, who never for a moment imagined that they would find themselves unemployed at the beginning of the year, are going to have difficulties feeding their families.

“The government really must act.”

Boris Johnson yesterday rejected pleas to extend meal vouchers of 15 pounds a week for the poorest children during the semester and Christmas break despite a campaign by Marcus Rashford.

But the prime minister has repeatedly hinted that he will give more money to councils, which can reach the children most in need.

Reports suggest it will expand the Holiday Food and Activities program, a Dimbleby creation that was tested on 17 councils over the summer.

According to The Daily Telegraph, it would allow children to receive at least one meal a day outside of school hours and could be combined with additional study time to help students catch up on missed education.

This could help meet one of the three demands of Marcus Rashford’s campaign: “provide meals and activities throughout the holidays.”

But critics fear it’s not enough because it could lead to a zip code lottery depending on how much help the councils can provide.

Dimbleby said his vacation club program would be the best way to solve the problem, but he also called for eligibility for free school meals to be extended to all families with Universal Credit and for Healthy Start vouchers for children to be increased. More smalls.

Those two demands are also made by Marcus Rashford.

And Dimbleby said it was “strange” that ministers had boasted that they had pledged £ 63 million to councils in June, as the money was only supposed to last until October.

Dimbleby said “in-kind support” through vacation clubs, which provide food and education, has been shown to have a better impact than putting the same “small amount of money” in Universal Credit.

“I have not been late in presenting ideas that I have been transmitting to Hacienda, Educación and Number 10, ideas of how they could implement this quickly by Christmas,” he said.

“But … the dark center of government is invisible to me and I have no idea exactly what they are working on as we speak.”

It came after a millionaire Tory Business Minister claimed that getting meals was not actually the most important thing to starving children.

Nadhim Zahawi claimed that the activities were actually more important to the children who participated in the pilots during the summer.

He told Sky News: “It’s not just about the food.

“Talk to [charity boss] Carol Shanahan in Stoke on Trent. She tells me that in the neighborhoods where families want to keep their children safe during these activities, they also appreciate the food, but more important than the food for them were the activities. “

He added: “These are incredibly important drivers, and we will see how we can learn from them and how we can take advantage of this.”

“The best way to do it, as the Prime Minister rightly pointed out, is through the local government, 17 local authorities participated in that pilot and, of course, through the real welfare system, the Universal Credit system, providing that extra help for those families.. ”

He dismissed speculation about a rift between Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak for more than £ 150 million to fund meals during the midterm break.

Zahawi said he was “speculating about things that I don’t recognize,” adding: “There is an absolute link between the Chancellor and the Secretary of Education and the Prime Minister and this Government to make sure we direct the funds to the families in need. “