Marcus Rashford shares ‘unacceptable’ food parcels, prompting investigation by the British government

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a post of a Twitter user called Roadside Mum on Monday, shared more than 27,000 times, detailed the items she was shipped from Chartwells, one of the companies contracted by the UK government.

Roadside mom said the package included ingredients to make two jacket potatoes with beans and eight cheese sandwiches, plus some snacks, pasta, and a single tomato.

The package was intended to last for 10 days, according to the mail, and was spent on her in lieu of £ 30 ($ 40) on vouchers, previously received by families with the plan.

“I honestly could do more with £ 30,” wrote Roadside Mum, who said she could have bought the same amount of food for £ 5.22 ($ 7.10) from a supermarket. “The private company with the #FSM contract has made good profit here,” the post added.

Supplier Chartwells responded on Twitter, saying, “This does not match the specification of any of our packages.” The company asked for more details so that it could “investigate immediately.”

CNN has contacted Chartwells for further comment.

Sharing multiple images of food parcels sent to families, Rashford tweeted: “Children deserve better than this.”
Child minister Vicky Ford tweeted that she “will investigate this urgently” while the Department for Education (DfE) does too said that it “examines this”.

“We have clear guidelines and standards for food packages that we expect to be adhered to,” said the DfE tweet. “Packages must be nutritious and contain a varied food supply.”

Marcus Rashford scores a hat-trick on the field and causes unrest in the British government

Manchester United footballer Rashford last year campaigned for 1.3 million children to claim free school meal vouchers during the summer break in England, forcing the UK government to make a turnaround. He was honored by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his campaign.

On Tuesday, Rashford posted a Twitter thread after talking to Chartwells that morning. He said there had been little communication with suppliers before the UK government announced the lockdown.

“Children shouldn’t go hungry because we don’t communicate or are transparent about plans,” Rashford said. “That is unacceptable.”

British lawmaker Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labor party, also waded.

The UN report compares British welfare policy to Victorian workhouses
“The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal packs are a shame”, tweeted Starmer on Tuesday. Where is the money going? This needs to be sorted immediately so that families don’t go hungry from incarceration. ‘

In December, humanitarian organization UNICEF announced that it would help feed people in parts of the UK for the first time in its 70-year history.

The United Nations (UN) agency said a “domestic emergency” means vulnerable children and families need help because of the Covid-19 crisis.

In May 2019, a UN report on poverty in the UK said the Conservative government was in a “state of denial” about the 14 million people living on the bread frontier, and continued its nearly a decade of austerity measures “despite the tragic social consequences. “.

The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world, yet one fifth of the population lives in poverty, the report said, which predicted that 40% of children would live in poverty in the next two and a half years.

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