Well the boy made it to 48 hrs hours before deciding he was hungry and that he would just eat plain dog food. He ate his meal last night but decided to decline breakfast .. no worries it was instantly taken away!
A valid point made in the comments was that maybe he wasn't eating because it was hot, but sadly no, he's been playing me like a fiddle for months! I've been adding treats to his food to convince him to eat for long enough. If I don't sort it out now I'll have a life time of him calling the shots.