KEY POINTS:
National leader John Key says he has been forced to change the way his Food for Schools programme works because of Government interference.
One way of operating the programme, he said, was to take donations from businesses and give them to schools.
"But in opposition, that proves to be more difficult because of the standover tactics Labour has employed with schools like Wesley Primary."
Mr Key said an alternative way would be to pass the donations to a charity such as KidsCan.
If National passed on food direct to schools, it would do so anonymously.
"We've been overwhelmed by the businesses that have come forward," he said.
Mr Key announced the Food for Schools programme a week ago, but it dissolved into a row when the first school he chose, Wesley Primary in Auckland, said it didn't need free food.
Mr Key accused the Ministry of Education and the Labour Party of bullying the school into changing its mind, which Education Minister Steve Maharey denied.
- NZPA
