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Labor has thrown down the gauntlet at Downing Street by pledging to force another Commons vote if it doesn’t reverse its refusal to provide free school meals in England over the holidays, as a senior Conservative MP admitted the government has misjudged the mood of the country. about the topic.
In a new speech that will boost the campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford, Labor leader Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his party would push for another vote if there is no change of course before Christmas.
Labor was defeated by the government in a vote on the policy last week, prompting businesses and councils, some of them run by the Conservatives, to step up to offer to feed the children at recess. mid-term to October, but the government has so far dug into defending its position.
In an apparent softening of the tone after a 10th spokesperson last week declined to praise the boards and companies offering help, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Rashford deserved “great credit” for his work on the subject, although he held firm to the Downing Street line.
Keir starmer
(@Keir_Starmer)Labor will force another vote on free school meals if the government doesn’t change course before the Christmas break.
It is not too late to do the right thing.
It comes as Sir Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative chairman of the influential Commons liaison committee, said the government had “misunderstood the state of mind in the country” about free school meals.
As the government continues to resist calls to reverse his move, Jenkin told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday program on Sky News: “I think we have to admit that we have misunderstood the mood of the country here.”
Noting that the government had funded city councils to provide support, he added: “The public wants the government to take national leadership on this and I think the government will probably have to think again about that, particularly if there are going to be more votes in the House of Commons.
“I think when you have the chair of the select committee on education [Robert Halfon] he does not support the government in this, and he is a conservative, I think the government has to listen to the conservative party. “
When asked how he would vote in other divisions of the Commons, Jenkin said, “I will wait to see what the government says and how they respond to the situation.”
Halfon, who voted against the government on Wednesday’s free school meals motion, wrote in the Spectator Saturday: “The fight against child hunger should therefore be a cause that all conservatives can embrace. That should include the temporary extension of free school meals during the holidays while (and only as long as) the economic impacts of the pandemic continue to be felt. “
Downing Street has already been forced to take a U-turn once on the issue, and decided to provide food stamps of £ 15 a week to eligible children for the summer after Rashford campaigned on the issue, but he has refused to do so for the vacation ahead.
When asked what had changed – that is, children who acquired them at the time should not receive them during the fall or Christmas holidays – Lewis told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “There are a couple of things that have changed. In the summer we had all schools closed, we had that full blackout period. Things have moved on, we now have about 99% of the schools and the kids back to school … that’s really good. We are in a different place, but there is more than that. “
He added: “In the holidays, what we have actually implemented is not just the increase in universal credit, because obviously the schools are closed, so it is about making sure that the welfare system can cover and support what people needs to. So we’ve invested the increase in universal credit, about £ 1,000 a year, but also, very specifically, we’ve invested £ 63 million in local authorities to support and help people in distress … and various local authorities do. are using. to do exactly that. “
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labor shadow minister of mental health, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “We honestly hope the Conservative government will dig deep and look inwardly and make a U-turn on this, but certainly We will push for a vote before Christmas. “
Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield told the same show that she thought the government should provide free school meals during the holidays, adding: “I was horrified by the debate, I was really disappointed in the debate in recent days. We are a rich country, we are in 2020 ”.
“Having a debate about whether we should make sure hungry and vulnerable children have enough to eat is something that is strikingly similar to chapters, I think you know, what we would expect to see in Oliver Twist, a novel published in the 19th century. So let’s stop the divisive and distracting conversations and start concentrating. “
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