Tory leader of Leicestershire: Government has given no money to fund free school meals over Christmas

Conservative leader @LeicsCountyHall @nrushton says for the Govt to say the £63m given to councils can fund free school meals is untrue. He says they can't see children go hungry so 12k on #fsm will get them in the holidays including Easter even though no funds to help.@bbcemt pic.twitter.com/hBonSzTM5X

— Tony Roe 👓 (@tonyroe) October 27, 2020

In the tweet above you can see a clip of Nick Rushton, the Conservative leader of Leicestershire County Council, being interviewed by the political editor for BBC East Midlands, Tony Roe.

Rushton says the council "cannot see children going hungry" and will fund free school meals over the Christmas holidays.

Asked if the government has given the council money to pay for measures like this, as Tory MPs are claiming, he replies:

They gave it us in June or July with the instructions that we had to spend it by the end of September, which we did.

That money, says Rushton, was spent on funding food banks and community groups.