British Politics Rees-Mogg Under Fire for UNICEF Comment
Rees-Mogg and British Politics with the COVID crisis worsening in Britain right now, UNICEF decided to step in and offer some support by offering free meals for children. This represents the first time in the 74-year history of the organization that they have done this in Britain, and while it was a gesture that was widely applauded, one politician saw things rather differently.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative leader of the House of Commons declared that the program that would potentially feed around 15,000 British children was nothing more than a “political stunt.” He went on to suggest that UNICEF should turn their attention elsewhere and essentially stay out of British Politics.
Rees-Mogg claimed that UNICEF should be focusing their attentions on the poorest parts of the world instead of Britain. While it is generally deprived and war-torn countries that receive the aid of the children’s organization, UNICEF believes that the situation in the U.K. right now is as bad as it has been since World War II. Their claim is that even before the pandemic, 2.4 million British children were food-insecure, a number that has almost certainly risen since March, when the full effects of the pandemic came into effect.
The Number of Hungry Expected to Double Across the World
Food insecurity is very much on the rise and goes deeper than British politics. This is a worldwide issue, with the United Nations World Food Program expecting the number of people in potentially life-threatening levels of hunger to double to around 265 million.
Regardless of the complaints from Rees-Mogg, UNICEF is pushing ahead with it’s plans to make sure that children receive the food they need. In Britain, they have partnered with a food and farming organization called Sustain, Together, they will target hungry children across the country, although their focus will be on south London, which is among the hardest hit at the moment. The goal is to feed breakfast to as many children as possible during the two-week Christmas break. They will do the same thing during the half-term break, with the entire project expected to cost in the region of $1 million.
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