ACCRINGTON Stanley became a household football name in the 1980s.

They had not won any cups and they possessed no star player.

But they did appear in a milk advert that lasted long in the memory and is still wistfully talked about today.

Perhaps it was this that was running through Michael Gove’s head that prompted his new campaign to reintroduce the white stuff back into schools.

Of course, it was a fellow Tory that scrapped them in the first place.

There was much uproar when the then Education Minister Margaret Thatcher, dubbed ‘Milk Snatcher’ abandoned free milk in schools in 1971.

Forty odd years have passed since then and yet our education policies seem to be moving backwards.

Firstly, it was the introduction of free school meals, leaving schools unprepared and underfunded to deal with the changes after many had scrapped their kitchens due to budget cuts.

Now children are being told exactly what they must eat. There is no doubt healthy eating is beneficial to pupils.

They concentrate better, are better behaved and it reduces the chance of them becoming obese and adding to pressures on the health service.

But these plans seem ill-thought out.

Children need to be encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables, not forced to do so.

The latter will only result in resentment and rejection, with fatty foods becoming more desirable due to their “illicit” status.

We don’t want to see our children creeping to the fridge at the dead of night to get their sugar fix.

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