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This government is picking some strange battles. In a row with Greater Manchester, it was Andy Burnham, the mayor, who came out looking like a heavyweight. No10 ended up looking out of touch

and even vindictive. Well played, Boris. Now the government is determined to take on Marcus Rashford MBE in his crusade to feed hungry school children. Perhaps the reason for taking on this

wildly-popular sporting idol who also campaigns for disadvantaged people is to fight back against the image of Boris as a flip-flopping U-turner. It’s not working. Instead, the government

is coming across as cold and petty.

On Wednesday, a motion on providing 1.4m disadvantaged children in England with £15-a-week food vouchers during the holidays was voted down. It was a victory for the government, albeit one

that makes it very easy for the government’s opponents to portray them as skinflint cold-hearted Tories who don’t care about the poor.

It didn’t help that several Tory MPs made some deeply misguided statements. One MP dismissed Rashford as a celebrity virtue signaller. Another remarked that the policy was an attempt at

“nationalising” children and would create dependency. What really mattered was “balancing the books”.

A government that is splurging cash on ill-advised policies and a failed track and trace system is in no position to make such remarks. The Conservatives will not be able to fall back on the

rhetoric of austerity while paying for expensive consultants, enriching Serco and throwing cash into the Brexit void.

Just consider the optics. The case against extending the free school meals scheme is extremely weak. The expense in government terms is a mere rounding error at just over £20 million a week.

One week of the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme, which was largely free food for the middle class, cost £500,000,000 — that’s almost as much as an entire summer of free school meals.

Ministers and MPs who have tried to defend the government’s position have failed to convince. According to Nadhim Zahawi, business minister, who was sent out to bat for the government on

Times Radio: “It’s not as simple as just writing a massive cheque for free school meals.”

The reality is that is exactly that simple. The government has already allowed borrowing to increase by around £200 billion. This is money borrowed at record low interest rates and the debt

interest repayments will be of little consequence. It is a matter of deliberate government policy to allow school children to go hungry during this pandemic. It really is as simple as that.

This pandemic is driving both an economic and public health emergency, and the government has made both things worse with its poor performance and mistakes. Yet the Conservative Party is

making it a point of principle to turn their backs on the poorest children in society, the ones who are most affected by the current crisis.

Incomes are dropping, unemployment is rising, the attainment gap is widening due to school closures, meaning disadvantaged children will fall further behind, and a second wave of Covid-19 is

here in time for a grim winter. As Rashford has pointed out, the number of children with little access to food has risen significantly since the summer. Boris Johnson’s position on this

seems more amoral than principled. He won a battle in the Commons, but who does it appeal to? What good headlines will come of it?

Johnson could’ve seized the initiative, put up the cash and he would have looked attentive, compassionate, and proactive. Instead, rather than feed the kids over Christmas, Boris has decided

to be Scrooge. “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” The opposition is going to have a field day with this. It will hit

home with the public.

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