As pupils return to school after the summer holidays, Kim Johnson MP will be asking the government to take up her demand for the universal roll out of free school meals in a first test for the new Prime Minister.
An adjournment debate on Free School Meals and tackling child poverty is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 8. Ms Johnson will call for an agreement to the immediate roll out of free school meals to all primary school children, with a full roll out to be adopted as part of the emergency support package the new Prime Minister is expected to deliver before the October spending review.
The Liverpool Riverside MP joins calls from the National Education Union, the End Child Poverty Coalition, the Food Foundation, the Child Poverty Action Group and many others to radically extend free school meals to combat rising food insecurity, child poverty and education inequalities. In a blog by Alysa Remtulla, Head of Policy and Campaigns for the Magic breakfast fuel for learning it states: Classroom hunger drives the education attainment gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers, leaving poorer children over 18 months behind their better off peers by the time they leave secondary school.
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Ms Johnson, a member of the Education Select Committee said: "As pupils head back to school we must remember that nearly a quarter of them are now eligible for free school meals. This number has risen by nearly 50% since 2019, and it’s still rising every day. It is the clearest demonstration of the explosion in child poverty that this government has overseen during its 12 years in power.
"The cost-of-living crisis is driving families into poverty at an escalating and alarming rate. Now is the time for the new Prime Minister to step up and put an end to piecemeal offers from this government that are fast being outstripped by the rampant rate of inflation.
"UK food prices have hit the highest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis. Children are going hungry right now. They simply cannot afford to wait for this government to keep dragging its feet.
"In constituencies like mine in Liverpool Riverside which has some of the highest deprivation levels in the country, 11 children in every classroom of 30 were already living in poverty before the start of the cost-of-living-crisis. Now, we are facing the most drastic drop in living standards in a century. The question is who will pay for it?”
Ms Johnson is concerned about the profits of billionaires, shareholders and energy giants ballooning and feels we need a wealth tax to fund measures to ease pressures on those most in need.
A poll put public support for ending food poverty at 83% (Survation Aug 2022). Around 2.6 million children live in households that missed meals or struggled to access healthy food. Levels of insecurity in households with children have risen by over 40% since the start of this year alone (Food Foundation April 2022)
Ms Johnson added: "The last time the Tories tried to resist helping hungry children, public outrage and the campaign fronted by Marcus Rashford forced a U-turn within a matter of weeks. I hope the new Prime Minister will learn from past mistakes and act immediately to prevent unnecessary and unimaginable suffering for millions of children and their families”.
The adjournment debate can be watched on Thursday September 8 here: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons
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