Nick Clegg was grilled on free school meals by a listener who has been accused of pretending to be a nine-year-old boy during a live radio phone-in show.
The caller on Nick Ferrari's LBC radio show, identified only as 'Rohan in south London', quizzed the Deputy Prime Minister on his decision to introduce free school meals for primary school pupils in England.
He suggested the policy was flawed because the meals were generally "unhealthy".
Speaking with a speech impediment, he said: "I was wondering why you have decided to introduce free school meals, which is a very expensive product and at my school they're quite unhealthy? The evidence shows that they don't make children behave or achieve better."
But as he finished his question, Mr Ferrari interjected; "Are you only nine?" while Mr Clegg, appearing to become suspicious, asked; "Why are you not at school Rohan? No seriously, are you ringing from school?"
Despite the caller confirming his identity, online commentators suggested he was a grown woman adopting an exaggerated voice.
One Twitter user wrote: "That was blatently an adult woman who called @nick_clegg about school meals. Clearly a setup."
Another said: "Labour woman phones up Nick Clegg pretending to be a 9 year old boy. Classic radio interview."
But a spokesman for LBC said the caller's identity was "genuine".
He said: “The LBC production team spoke to the boy and his mum, and we were confident the caller was genuine.
"Since the show, we’ve spoken to Rohan's headteacher who confirmed he made the call from school in the presence of a teacher, and we’re completely satisfied he has a genuine interest in the issue.”
