Describing the cuts as ?wanton destruction?, Pullman said Coalition ministers were guilty of ?sheer stupid vandalism?.
He added: ?If you miss
the first years of a child?s development, it?s gone. To put a gift of books into the hands of newborn children is to help open the door into the great treasury of reading.?
Sir Andrew said: ?The scheme has introduced an enormous number of young people to both the pleasure and the necessity of reading and has been of tremendous benefit in the drive towards literacy.?
Yesterday a joint statement from the Department for Education (DFE) and Booktrust said that the DFE would now continue to finance the programme which benefits 3.3?million children a year in England.
?The Department for Education and Booktrust are determined to ensure that reading for pleasure is a gift every child can enjoy. That is why the DFE will continue to fund Booktrust book-gifting programmes in the future,? the statement said.
The apparent U-turn comes hard on the heels of the retreat by Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, over plans to axe funding for the School Sports Partnership scheme in England, which had been slated to close.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, had been pressing the Government to restore funding for Booktrust, and has now written to David Cameron, the Prime Minister, urging him to make clear exactly how much the charity will receive.
?On school sport we saw a mean-minded decision made without consultation or regard for the consequences where you had to perform a partial U-turn. We are seeing that again here,? he wrote.
?Today, the Department for Education appears to be starting to backtrack amid the outcry from parents, children and authors. But there is no clarity at all.
?It now falls to you to get a grip on this fiasco and provide some reassurance that a scheme on the lines of the current programme will be maintained, with a clear statement about the amount of investment that will be provided.?
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8225711/Literary-heavyweights-force-free-books-U-turn.html
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