Tory councillors have refused to back a bid to provide free schools for all primary school pupils.
Preston councillor Cath Davis proposed a motion to invite the Elected Mayor, Dame Norma Redfearn, to write to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ensure every primary school pupil is offered free school meals and implement free breakfast clubs across the country.
Coun Davis (Lab) said: "According to the Joseph Rountree foundation, around 4.3m children live in poverty but only 2.3m qualify for free school meals. Around 40% of UC claimants with jobs don't qualify for free school meals.
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"Child Poverty Action Group estimate that one in three children living in poverty are missing out. There is extensive evidence that providing school meals to vulnerable children enhances health and learning outcomes.
"Universal free school meals provision has been shown to increase take-up of free school meals by those who are already eligible, suggesting wider provision reduces stigma."
However, the North Tyneside Conservatives opposed the motion which he likened to the "opening salvos of a socialist utopian manifesto that does nothing to actually solve the problem."
"This is just a scattergun approach to policy with no focus or thought. This proposes to offer breakfast and lunch to all primary school children without any means-testing. This demonstrates the kind of socialist political naivety that would make even Jeremy Corbyn supporters blush.
"What we all want to do on the left and the right is to help the poorest in society and provide them with security and opportunity. Councillor Davis wants to provide free meals to the richest parents and pay for them with taxes for the working class man and women.
"This motion seems to take from the poor and give to the rich. Whilst we can all commend councillor Davis' enthusiasm and her colleagues and their aims, this motion fails to achieve any of them."
"I would suggest they go back to the copy-and-paste motions of the past".
Wallsend councillor Mathew Thirlaway (Lab) branded these comments "economically illiterate".
The motion was passed with a Labour majority with the Conservatives voting against it, to cries of "shame on you" from Whitley Bay Labour councillor John O'Shea.
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