UK chancellor Rishi Sunak and three fellow ruling Conservative Party members of Parliament from northern England have been “barred for life” by a local pub and restaurant in their constituency region after they voted against free school meals for children during the holidays.
The Mill pub and its connected Il Mulino restaurant at Stokesley in North Yorkshire, which falls within Sunak’s constituency of Richmond (Yorks), took to social media soon after a vote in the House of Commons earlier this week on extending the government’s temporary free meals for schoolchildren as part of a campaign led by England team footballer Marcus Rashford.
“The government voted against extending free school meals. This is disgusting,” Alex Cook, the owner of the eatery, posted on Facebook on Thursday. “What’s worse Matt Vickers MP, Simon Clarke MP & Jacob Young MP, Rishi Sunak all voted against the scheme. DISGUSTING! All 4 are now barred from The Mill & Il Mulino for life. I don’t want their business,” he said.
The pub, meanwhile, has announced that it will deliver 100 freshly cooked healthy meals to three separate food banks in the Middlesbrough area next week to try and make up for the government decision.
The issue of an extension of free school meals through the holiday period for struggling families was brought in earlier this year temporarily after a Rashford-led successful campaign for the summer holidays. However, a further extension to it was defeated 322 votes to 261 on Wednesday.
The government’s stand has been that it has a universal benefits system and other support in place for struggling families and therefore did not see the need to further extend the scheme.