‘I don’t want their business’: North Yorkshire restaurant in Rishi Sunak’s constituency BARS the Chancellor and three other Conservative MPs from establishment life after they voted against free school meals
- The Mill in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, has banned local MP Rishi Sunak
- Also barred Yorkshire Tories Matt Vickers, Simon Clarke, Jacob Young
- Comes after they voted against Marcus Rashford-backed free school meals
- Landlord Alex Cook branded the MPs ‘DISGUSTING!’ in a Facebook post
Rishi Sunak has been banned from a pub and restaurant in his constituency because he voted against an extension of free school meals.
Alex Cook, who runs The Mill and Il Mulino in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, penned a withering Facebook post barring the Chancellor and three of his Tory colleagues for voting down the scheme.
Backed by Marcus Rashford, who earned an MBE after forcing a Government U-turn on the issue earlier this year, the Labour bill proposed an extension of the free school meals provided over the holidays.
Mr Cook wrote: ‘I’ve never known a Government which is consistently the wrong end of every argument. Forget the poor handling of Covid for a minute and concentrate on what happened yesterday.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak hosts a roundtable for business representatives, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Franco Manca in Waterloo, London, on Wednesday
The Mill pub run by irate Alex Cook who has banned the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and another three Yorkshire Conservative MPs
‘The Government voted against extending free school meals. This is disgusting! What’s worse Matt Vickers, Simon Clarke, Jacob Young, Rishi Sunak all voted against the scheme. DISGUSTING!
‘All 4 are now barred from The Mill and Il Mulino for life. I don’t want their business.’
The Conservative MPs, who all represent Yorkshire constituencies, have stood by their decision.
Asked by Sky News whether he believed Mr Sunak had ever been to his pub, Mr Cook said he wasn’t sure but that he ‘definitely knows it exists.’
Labour’s motion calling for the Government to offer more help to struggling families was defeated by 322 votes to 261, a majority of 61.
Caroline Ansell, one of five Conservative backbenchers to break the whip and vote for the plan, quit her Government job following Thursday night’s vote.
Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford blasted MPs for rejecting a plan to offer free school meals to pupils during holidays until Easter 2021
England and Manchester United football ace Mr Rashford slammed the outcome of the vote on Twitter as he said children would go to bed feeling hungry and worthless.
Rashford told politicians to ‘stop stigmatising, judging and pointing fingers’ as he warned a ‘significant number’ of children will go to bed hungry and ‘feeling like they do not matter’.
He called on people to ‘unite’ to protect the most vulnerable children, adding: ‘For as long as they don’t have a voice, they will have mine.’
The other Tory MPs who rebelled to support the motion were Education Select Committee chairman Robert Halfon, Jason McCartney (Colne Valley), Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) and Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe).
Caroline Ansell, the Tory MP for Eastbourne, today quit her Government role after rebelling over free school meals
Downing Street ruled out performing a late U-turn ahead of the vote, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson telling MPs that support will continue for children in low income families.
‘We will continue to use the benefits system and all the systems of income to support children throughout the holidays as well,’ he added.
Number 10 said it was not up to schools to ‘regularly provide food during holidays.’
