I WISH to echo the point made by Valerie Rose in her letter (Craven Herald letters, October 29) in which she said, “Feeding children should never be left to chance and charity.”

The Government’s refusal to respond positively to Marcus Rashford’s and the opposition’s call for funding of free school meals for the half-term holiday period was saddening and misguided. It was also condemned by the Child Poverty Action Group as “a low point”.

The Christmas holidays are now less than seven weeks away. One hopes that the Government will make the right decision this time and not abandon needy families for an even longer period, but this is by no means certain.

At the half-term just ended, a number of councils stepped in to plug the gap and already Sheffield City Council and others are readying themselves to fund free school meals over Christmas. Let us hope that North Yorkshire County Council will be among them.

Celia Midgley

Skipton