Children going hungry is more than just a scandal; it is cruel, unjust and uncaring, especially in one of the richest countries in the world.
Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, has put up a new Private Member’s bill which I fully support.
I have signed Early Day Motion (EDM) 672, the Free School Meals for All campaign:
“That this House notes that 3.9 million children are growing up in poverty and that the cost of living crisis is estimated to push another 500,000 children into poverty; recognises that free school meals ensure millions of children get a hot, healthy meal each day, but that as millions of families struggle with the cost of living crisis, more children are being forced to learn on empty stomachs, with restrictive eligibility, complicated registration and stigma built into the means-tested system; welcomes campaigning to extend free school meals, including those led by the National Education Union, the Daily Mirror and the Food Foundation; and calls on the Government to extend free school meals to all primary school children in state schools in England, as proposed by the Free School Meals for All Bill, formally known as the Free School Meals (Primary Schools) Bill.”
There must be universal free school meals, and I have also signed an open letter to the Prime Minister supporting free school meals for all. This issue has taken on even more importance in the current cost of living crisis.
