School holiday support U-turn welcomed by MPs

The £400 million scheme was unveiled following a backlash against MPs who voted against Marcus Rashford's campaign to extend free school meals during holidays.

Run by councils, it will see families supported with food and bills, while a food and activities programme during holidays will be expanded in a bid to ensure that no child goes hungry.

Suzanne Webb, the Tory MP for Stourbridge, said she had lobbied Ministers to come up with a scheme of support to help children from low income families.

She thanked them for "listening and acting" over the issue, and said: "This is a comprehensive package of measures that will really help children."

Stuart Anderson, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, hailed the extra support. He said: "Wolverhampton Council has been doing a great job, and I am pleased that it has been allocated more than £1 million in additional funding to provide further support where it is most needed.

"I will continue to work with our council and the Government so that we can continue to ensure families, children, and vulnerable people are able to access the support that they need."

Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson said the funding would make "a real difference".

She added: "Investing in the future of our children is vital to levelling up and extending opportunity across the country, and with this additional support we can prevent the hunger that we know is so damaging to a child’s life chances."

Some of the region's Conservative MPs faced abuse after following Boris Johnson's orders to vote against Rashford's scheme, which was put forward in the Commons by Labour.

Mr Anderson received death threats and had his office vandalised three times, while across the region there were a number of small protests outside MPs' headquarters from Labour activists and trade unionists.

Following the announcement of the scheme, Rashford said: "I very much welcome the steps that have been taken to combat child food poverty in the UK."