I SUPPOSE we should be grateful for small mercies. At least our MP didn’t join with others of his stripe who made outrageous claims about misuse of free food schemes.

“Cash direct to a crack den and a brothel” was only the worst.

Even so, ‘MP defends free meal vote’ (Mercury, October 27) flies in the face of condemnation from over 2,000 paediatricians who have backed Marcus Rashford’s campaign.

The Tory chair of the education select committee is another urging a government rethink.

So, what were the grounds our MP chose to support his view? ‘Open ended’.

So much government funding is open ended, this beggars belief.

Did we hear Ian Liddell-Grainger saying similar over another recent piece of food-related legislation?

The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ subsidised indiscriminately, irrespective of whether diners could afford full prices, and the Chancellor could have had no more than a guesstimate of how much it would cost.

READ MORE: Bridgwater MP defends vote on free school meals

READ MORE: Somerset rallies to offer free school meals

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‘No accurate assessment of need’. Nonsense.

Government knows exactly how many children qualify for free school meals during term time and exactly what number of children qualify in the holidays too.

‘Contact my office directly if you think you need help’. And please enclose your Oliver Twist gruel bowl at the same time!

This is not the time for the present government to revert to the ‘Nasty Party’ image it enjoyed not so long ago.

We need children to be well fed. They will learn better and improve their life chances on a full tummy. And their parents should not have reduce their own health status by making unnecessary sacrifices.

It is good to see others trying to fill the breach left by government inactivity, ‘Community is offering free meals’ (Mercury, October 27, same page!).

This shouldn’t stop our MP and his government from performing a u-turn to do the right thing and provide free holiday school meals.

ROY PUMFREY

Cannington