Boris Johnson ‘planning partial climbdown’ over Christmas free school meals

Insiders reveal funding boost plan as Tories accuse PM of misreading public mood about Marcus Rashford’s campaign

Boris Johnson
(Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Boris Johnson is planning to increase funding for England’s poorest families over Christmas in a bid to avoid a damaging Tory revolt over free school meals, according to insiders.

Downing Street sources told The Times that additional support for eligible pupils is to be provided outside term time, in what the newspaper describes as a “partial climbdown”. The prime minister is facing growing criticism of his handling of footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign for the government to continue providing the free meals over school holidays, with senior Conservatives accusing Johnson of “misunderstanding” the public mood.

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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.