Jacob Rees-Mogg has launched an extraordinary attack on the UN agency Unicef, saying it should be “ashamed” for feeding hungry children in London.
The Leader of the Commons claimed it was a “scandal” that Unicef was “playing politics” by granting £25,000 to fund breakfasts for vulnerable youngsters in Southwark.
The agency, which is tasked with providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide, is helping community project School Food Matters give out more than 20,000 breakfasts over the two-week Christmas holiday and February half term.
It is the first time in its 70-year history that Unicef has developed a UK domestic emergency response.
When the program was raised by Labour MP Zarah Sultana in the Commons on Thursday, Mr Rees-Mogg replied: “I think it's a real scandal that Unicef should be playing politics in this way when it is meant to be looking after people in the poorest, the most deprived countries in the world, where people are starving, where there are famines and where there are civil wars.
"And they make cheap political points of this kind - giving I think £25,000 to one council. It is a political stunt of the lowest order.”
The senior Tory lauded the Government’s work to tackle child poverty, which he characterised as a record of successful conservatism.
In 2019 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty than in 2010, Mr Rees-Mogg said. He added: “Unicef should be ashamed of itself.”
Later on in the session Mr Rees-Mogg addressed a separate question about a “despicable act” in Nigeria in which 330 boys were kidnapped.
He added: “To go back to an earlier question, you do wonder that Unicef might think a bit more about this than faffing around in England.”
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: “I say Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and the rest of the Government should be ashamed of themselves for letting children go hungry.
“Every Tory MP who voted against free school meals should be ashamed of themselves.
“Old Etonian hedge fund founder Jacob Rees Mogg, who has personal wealth over £100 million, says it is a ‘scandal’ that Unicef are having to feed hungry children in Britain.
“The only scandal is this rotten out of touch government leaving over 4 million children living in poverty.”
Anna Kettley, director of programmes at Unicef UK, said the fund was introduced to tackle the “unprecedented impact” of the pandemic and reach families most in need.
The charity said that before the pandemic struck, an estimated 2.4 million UK children were already growing up in food-insecure. In Southwark, there are 15,000 children who are vulnerable to food poverty.
Founder of School Food Matters Stephanie Slater said families were “really struggling” and many were facing the “indignity” of having to rely on food banks to feed their children.”
It comes after the Evening Standard launched its Food For London Now appeal, which helps fund the delivery of food to poor, elderly and vulnerable Londoners.
Yesterday a Government spokesperson commented: “We are committed to supporting the lowest-paid families through the pandemic and beyond. That’s why we have raised the living wage, boosted welfare support by billions of pounds and introduced the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to help children and families stay warm and well-fed during the coldest months.”
