Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman accuses Daily Mail of telling porkies
14:57 18 June 2012
Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman has refuted allegations that the borough has banned pork sausages from being served in schools.
Pork is unavailable in 85 out of 90 schools in the borough, a figure which prompted the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph to report that the council has banned sausages due to “religious reasons.”
Mayor Rahman responded on his blog, arguing that the low availability of pork in the borough’s schools is simply a result of a lack of demand amongst pupils.
He wrote: “The facts are that pork sausages are available to the minority of schools where there is a continuing demand for them.
“However, it is the case that in a majority of our schools there isn’t any demand for them. Clearly there is no demand for pork sausages for Muslim and Jewish school pupils, but that is hardly a new development.
“At a time when there are severe pressures on local authority budgets, why should our council be obliged to waste money on unwanted pork sausages?”
When contacted by the Advertiser, the council confirmed that only four secondary schools and one primary school in the borough served pork in their school meals.
A spokesperson said: “The decision of what to serve is made by the governing body of each school which takes into account the requirements and preferences of the children at the school. There are no imposed decisions about the type of food provided.”