Last week I reported that Kirsty Williams had committed to extend free school meals through the holidays and right up to next Easter. Of course, that only applies in Wales where she is the Education Minister.
But this week MPs shamefully voted against a similar programme in England, in spite of the widespread support for Marcus Rashford’s campaign.
Lib Dems, headed by Daisy Cooper, have been calling for action:
Last week @libdemdaisy wrote to Gavin Williamson urging the government to make free school meals available for every child in poverty in England, including during school holidays and lockdown.
Join us in the fight for free school meals > https://t.co/EeXQiTEmzA pic.twitter.com/g3zdPgWKBj
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) October 22, 2020
There is a petition to sign, in which we call for:
- Free school meals to every pupil whose parents or guardians are in receipt of Universal Credit
- Food vouchers for every one of those pupils in every school holiday and during any period of lockdown
- Free school meals to pupils from low-income families whose parents or guardians have no recourse to public funds and destitute asylum seekers
I’ve signed it. Will you?
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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18 Comments
As a teacher for 34 years I know how important it is that youngsters have access to a proper diet. You can’t always rely on parents providing this, even if they have the wherewithal to provide it. That’s why I supported the Lib Dem policy of free school meals for five year olds, which became reality under the Coalition government. It’s just a pity that it stopped there.
You can blame feckless parents, absentee fathers etc if you want. I’m sure that the usual suspects will be saying things like; “If you can’t afford kids you shouldn’t be having ‘em”. If not actually saying it, I bet that many are thinking it!
No, whoever is at fault it’s certainly not the youngsters. So why penalise them? Without proper nourishment nobody can expect to function properly, especially if that ‘body’ is still growing. So, pay up and stop prevaricating!
This was our partys premier achievement in the co-alition years so why oh why is our leadership not jumping up and down with fury. We need leadership NOW SirEd.
Do too many of our “national book balancing” and “national debt avoidance” M. P.s seem to be unable to use these loudly promoted principles when it comes to their own wallets and purses?
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/mps-munched-tax-payer-subsidised-22891657
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mps-owe-140000-in-unpaid-westminster-419468
Yes the 50p Daily Star ( yes ,good value compared to the right wing rags) has their menu (MPs) splashed on the front page ,as they did with the scrooge Tories over childrens holiday school meals.
The petition and a copy of the front of the daily star make a good focus / local campaign. The front is on the BBC website.
Actually the Daily Star is probably a right wing paper it was owned by Richard Desmond along with the Express. Although the same company now owns it and the labour supporting Mirror.
However it does make a point of often being a non politics paper. See the Yes, Minister clip that I am sure is on YouTube about papers and their readers.. Substituting the Daily Star for The Sun in the clip. As it is slightly vulgar and may be of the 80s I won’t repeat it here.
I would also personally extend universal term time free school meals to all school children up to GSCE (at least).
I appreciate that this is expensive and we also had a recent discussion/thread I believe about it.
But there are several I think good reasons for it.
As a warm fuzzy liberal I like the idea of all kids sitting down to a meal together or equally important throwing it each other!
The stigma of being on free school meals and sometimes bullying for being different.
Actually those just above the free school meals level or indeed those just below miss out on a load of benefits and may actually be poorer than those below it. And those who are eligible. if they can afford it may not claim because of above.
Universal benefits are immensely popular among the middle class and so they continue. My mother loved getting child benefit although truth be told being on above average incomes they were probably taxed more for it than they got back!
Rashford does not have a political party, just Manchester United, but on Question Time it was said that Tory MPs did not vote for the motion because it was on the Commons Agenda as a Labour motion.
Surely there must be an alternative to shouting verbal abuse across the Chamber and
getting reprimanded by the Deputy Speaker?
A former Speaker reported in her autobiography that the late Ian Paisley MP (DUP) thanked her because he had got a whole page in a newspaper in Belfast.
As an MEP he went out of his way to insult a guest Speaker, the then Pope, who was presumably multi-lingual. There was was no procedure for expulsion but a new precedent was created for this large man. I do not know whether he sent a thank you letter.
Rashford is listing sites which provide free food.
Saint Paul refers to ‘faith’ without ‘works’.
Possibly ‘works’ without ‘faith’ is less of an issue?
A suggestion for this year’s Blackpool Illumination..
Put up in lights the name and constituency of each of the 322 Tory MPs who voted to allow children to go hungry during the holidays…
They are beyond shame but a few weeks of their names flashing in bright lights might remind the public of just what they voted for..
It looks very much as if a citizens’ initiative, as a response to the actions of Marcus Rashford, has stepped up to the plate. Who needs politicians, it would seem?
It seems a number of local Councils are doing it themselves.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54657796
Lib Dem run Kingston has just announced that it will provide free school meals or vouchers across half term and the Christmas break.
https://www.kingstonlibdems.org/201023_free_school_meals
@Mary Reid
You know, this is a really massive opportunity for local government to show central government what it is capable of doing. The public is watching.
I knew of one child who would rely on school meals. I worked in Teacher Staffing for several years, also maintenance of police stations and other buildings. Enjoyed working in the Public Sector, it is rewarding.
The government is wasting tax payers or borrowed funding like it’s being printed to waste. Billions on the Track and Trace.
There was a real lack of planning, during the break in education, for all those children who were home for months. My little granddaughter, most certainly, was finding it difficult to sleep, and so wanted the fresh air play provided.
This is a serious issue and I believe we need joint efforts, like a coalition government could provide. But the brakes on foolish spending and waste.
Michael 1: The Mirror Group now own the Express & the Star, hence why they are currently using the Star in an aggressive, and crudely effective campaign against the government.
Michael 1 is right. School meals should be free for all children for social reasons.
Of course it matters. Other countries like Finland for instance have free meals.
@john bicknell
May be. They have kept the Express as a very right wing and very pro Brexit paper. The Daily Star has always been very light on politics. This is my impression I am not an avid reader of either or their websites so I may be wrong. It has to be said that even the daily mail and daily telegraph are not above bashing the Tories from “the left” from time to time.
@Katerina Porter
Thanks for expressing your agreement and support.
This is Marcus Rashford’s Petition:
Looks like it’s on way to over 1 million signatures.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276
Where parents struggle to feed their children, there will often be other areas of deprivation in the child’s life such as access to adequate heating or clothing.
Perhaps the party could campaign for a utilities bill circuit breaker alongside free school meals through the holidays?