Conservative MPs reject offer to feed over a million children during school holidays

Conservative MPs have rejected an attempt to extend free school meals for hungry children during school holidays.

In embarrassing scenes, the Conservatives rejected a Labor motion to feed more than 1.4 million children during the school holidays through Easter next year.

The motion was rejected by 322 votes to 261.

Boris Johnson repeatedly evaded MPs’ pleas to support the campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford to help ensure that the poorest children have guaranteed food during the second wave of the pandemic.

Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green called on the Government to “ensure that more than a million children do not go hungry this Christmas.”

And he demanded answers as to why “money only runs out when hungry children need it,” while private companies, consultants and conservative donors benefit from the “salsa train.”

Marcus Rashford shared his bitter disappointment after the result.

In a statement he said that “a significant number of children are going to sleep tonight not only hungry but feeling that they do not matter” after the failure of the parliamentarians.

He called on politicians to get rid of their partisan obsessions

“This is not politics, this is humanity. We talk about the devastating impact of COVID-19 but, if the projections are of any use, child food poverty has the potential to become the largest pandemic the country has ever faced.”

Conservative senior MP Robert Halfon supported the plans, saying: “Free school meals should be temporarily extended during school holidays while the full effects of the pandemic continue to be felt.

“If we recognize that children are at risk of starvation in the school year by providing them free school meals, despite the provision of Universal Credit and the other things that have been mentioned by the Government, we know that they are also at risk of starvation. during the holidays. “

But other Conservative MPs lined up to criticize the idea.

Brendan Clarke-Smith, a former teacher, said that parents should take responsibility and strangely stated, “I don’t believe in nationalizing children.”

Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner MP David Simmonds accused Labor of “wasting taxpayer money to gain favor with celebrity status, wealth and power.”

“Now I have no doubt that Mr. Rashford is an expert in his own experience, but we must not forget that the experiences he so movingly described took place under a Labor government that was supposedly at the height of its powers to address the issue. child poverty in this country. . “

The Manchester United and England striker, who forced a U-turn on the issue in the summer, warned MPs not to “turn a blind eye” to the plight of the most vulnerable while taking on Conservative MPs on Twitter. .

Mr. Rashford criticized Conservative MP Ben Bradley, who compared the plan to “spreading the gifts” and asserting that free school meals would increase “dependency” on the state.

The sports star responded: “The economy already pays a high price for child hunger.

“If children were fed properly, it would increase their educational level and life chances.”

Earlier, Conservative Minister Paul Scully sparked a furious backlash after saying the government will not extend free school meals during the holidays because “children have been starving for years.”

Mr. Scully made the muffled comments while trying to defend the government’s opposition to the plan in a disastrous interview with the BBC.

When asked if the government would feed starving children during the difficult winter months, he said: “We have had a situation where children have been starving under a Labor government for years.

It comes as Labor analysis found that nearly 900,000 children at Covid hotspots will miss free school meals unless the government expands the plan.

About 61% of the more than 1.4 million children eligible for free school meals live in Level 2 and Level 3 areas, according to figures from the Library of the House of Commons.

In response to the decision, the executive director of the Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said: “We have reached a low point if in the middle of a pandemic we decide that we cannot ensure that children of income families lower have a nutritious meal in the middle of the day.

“Tonight’s vote means more children will be left without children and parents more desperately anxious, just as the coronavirus winter approaches. In short, it shuns our moral responsibility to protect the nation’s most vulnerable children.”

“It will not sit well with all those people from various walks of life who support Marcus Rashford because they do not want child poverty to continue to be ignored.”

Marcus Rashford’s response to the vote in full

Let’s put aside all the noise, excavations, party politics and focus on reality.

A significant number of children go to sleep tonight, not only hungry, but feeling like they don’t matter because of the comments made today.

We must stop stigmatizing, judging and pointing fingers. Our opinions are clouded by political affiliation. This is not politics, it is humanity. We talk about the devastating impact of COVID-19, but if the projections are of any use, child food poverty has the potential to become the largest pandemic the country has ever faced.

We must begin to work together and unite to protect our most vulnerable children. No more plastered plasters.

Let’s face this head-on. Let’s level up once and for all.

The requests of the Task Force on Child Food Poverty remain the same.

We support government-commissioned policy recommendations that were constructed from extensive research and data analysis. These policies are vital to stabilizing millions of households in the UK and must be implemented without delay.

Child hunger should never face looming deadlines. We need a long-term sustainable framework, and thanks to more than 300,000 signatures, we will now be offered the opportunity to discuss this.

Following public and private approaches, I once again invite Number 10 to come to the table with the Task Force so that together we can collaborate on the best way to combat child food poverty in the UK.

We are here to help, but we need guidance and knowledge from those at Number 10. I don’t have the education of a politician, many on Twitter have made that clear today, but I have a social education having lived theirs and having spent time with families and the most affected children.

These kids matter. These children are the future of this country. They are not just another statistic. And as long as they don’t have a voice, they will have mine.

You have my word on it.