SOMERSET MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has come under fire for accusing Unicef of a “political stunt” after the agency stepped in to help feed deprived children in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. The Commons Leader told MPs it was “a scandal” that the charity had said it would help feed 1,800 hungry children over Christmas for the first time in its 70-year history, calling the move “a political stunt of the lowest order”. The attack followed the announcement by Unicef on Wednesday (December 16) that it would pledge a grant of £25,000 to the charity School Food Matters which will use the money to supply thousands of breakfast boxes over the two-week Christmas school holidays to vulnerable children and families in Southwark, south London.
Coventry MP s tongue-in-cheek Christmas gift to Jacob Rees-Mogg after Unicef row
Zarah Sultana sent him a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
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Jacob Rees-Mogg accuses Unicef of stunt for campaign to feed UK children
Unicef said it will supply thousands of breakfast boxes over the two-week Christmas school holidays. By Press Association Friday 18 Dec 2020, 8:21 AM Dec 18th 2020, 8:21 AM 29,083 Views 64 Comments
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images
UNICEF SHOULD BE “ashamed” of itself for “playing politics” after the charity launched a campaign to feed UK children during the pandemic, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
The Commons Leader told MPs it was “a scandal” that the charity had said it would help feed 1,800 hungry children over Christmas for the first time in its 70-year history, calling the move “a political stunt of the l
The charity said each box would provide enough food for 10 breakfasts across the Christmas holidays.
Labour’s Zarah Sultana raised the matter in Parliament.
“For the first time ever, Unicef, the UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian aid to children, is having to feed working-class kids in the UK, Ms Sultana said.
“But while children go hungry, a wealthy few enjoy obscene riches, from Tory donors handed billions in dodgy contracts to people like the Leader of the House, who is reportedly in line to receive an £800,000 dividend payout this year.
“So will he give government time to discuss the need to make him and his super-rich chums pay their fair share so that we can end the grotesque inequality that scars our society?”