GAVIN WILLIAMSON should resign as Education Secretary over the scandal of meagre free school meals being given to homeschooled children during the current lockdown, his Labour counterpart said today.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said that Mr Williamson “plainly isn’t up to the job” and that the public had “run out of patience” with him.

This is the first time that Ms Green has called on the Education Secretary to quit, despite his shambolic handling of last summer’s school exams which saw the government make an 11th hour U-turn on downgraded results.

Her call for Mr Williamson to resign came after images of boxes containing just £4 or £5 worth of food – but purported have cost the taxpayer £15 per child per week – were shared online and sparked a widespread backlash, including criticism by the government and Mr Williamson himself.

Today, footballer and anti-poverty activist Marcus Rashford, celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and 40 major charities and organisations wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for an urgent review of free school meals.

They said that they would support the government to “reform the system for the longer term.”

Anti-poverty food writer Jack Monroe argued that the ongoing campaign over free school meals highlighted a “yawning chasm of injustice” and said that there is a need for year-round food vouchers.

Meanwhile, Labour vowed to force a vote in the Commons on Monday on a demand for ministers to guarantee the full value of free school meals support, including during the school holidays.

On Thursday, the Department for Education issued new guidance stating that schools do not have to provide free lunches to children from low-income families during the February half-term.

Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said that 80 per cent of the government’s Covid Winter Grant Scheme to local authorities is “earmarked to support families with food bills.”

But the Local Government Association called on ministers to provide vouchers to eligible families, adding that ministers had previously said that the winter contingency fund was not intended for such a purpose.

GMB union national secretary Rehana Azam described the decision to provide half-term lunches through councils’ funds as “immoral.”

A national supermarket voucher scheme to replace the food parcels is due to open on Monday, Mr Williamson said. But Labour is calling for parents to receive extra cash through the welfare system instead.