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In an update to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel's father Patrick said: "He has already sent us a message, so we hope everything is okay."

The commissioners “voted to write their legislators opposing this while it is still in legislative committee,” the local newspaper reported.

"Now, in the newspaper I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn't right."

The newspaper suggested the policy was a response to Scottish Labour proposals to reintroduce the payments - which the SNP said they had to drop due to UK Labour government cuts to Scotland's funding.

He had written more than 20 books, drew healthy audiences speaking across America and attracted coverage from the country’s top newspapers and magazines.