Plans to give free school meals to all primary kids in London for a year will make the case for extending the benefit "irrefutable", Boris Johnson's former food tsar has said.
Henry Dimbleby said the game-changing decision by London Mayor Sadiq Khan would prove the benefit of free school meals to children's education, health and life chances.
Pressure is mounting on Rishi Sunak to ensure all primary pupils get a proper hot meal, as an estimated 800,000 children living in poverty miss out due to strict eligibility rules.
The Mayor of London, who relied on free school meals as a child, said he was stepping forward after the Government "simply failed to act".
Every pupil in the capital will get a free lunch from September this year, thanks to a £130million in emergency funding from City Hall.
Some 270,000 children will benefit, saving their families an estimated £440 a year.
The Mirror is campaigning with the National Education Union to offer free school meals to all children in primary schools.
But the Tories have repeatedly rebuffed calls to widen the scheme from doctors, teachers and campaigners, including top chefs Jamie Oliver and Tom Kerridge, and even ex-Tory chancellor George Osborne.
Scotland and Wales have already agreed to extend free school meals to primary children - but England has lagged behind.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting today became the most senior Labour frontbencher to signal support for the idea.
He tweeted that the move would be a lifeline to struggling families and a "welcome opportunity" to assess the benefits for children's health, nutrition and educational achievements.
Mr Dimbleby, who co-founded restaurant chain Leon, told the Mirror: "It would be great to see this in manifestos.
"The real opportunity is not only to do something that's important for school children in London but to see the first proper evaluation of this in the UK. This is the first really big scale example."
He added: "If it works, as I think it will, the case for universal free school meals will be irrefutable."
The Leon co-founder pointed to a study by Lund University in Sweden, which found that universal school lunch programmes in primary schools improved children's lifetime earnings by 3%.
Mr Dimbleby said politicians need to "cut out the ideology" that has prevented them from feeding hungry kids and do something that would "massively improve children's life chances".
Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who is campaigning to change the law on free school meals, urged the Government to follow Scotland and Wales to ensure "children aren’t forced to learn on empty stomachs".
“My Free School Meals for All Bill would extend this policy to the whole country, ending the injustice of kids going hungry in classrooms and guaranteeing every child has a hot, healthy meal each day," she told the Mirror.
“It’s time the Government stepped-up and followed suit, embracing this vital policy to end child food poverty.”
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson hailed the news but said that City Hall and local authorities shouldn't be left to "pick up the tab for the Conservative Government's failure to tackle child hunger".
"London's pupils will be short-changed if school kitchens can't serve enough meals during the lunch break or if the funding does not cover the full cost, forcing schools to cover the shortfall from their teaching budgets," she said.
"Ultimately, it's time that the Conservative Government took responsibility. They should extend free school meals nationwide, beginning with all children on Universal Credit, so that no child goes hungry at school."
Anna Taylor, of the Food Foundation, said the move was a "huge step forward" and means struggling families in London will breathe a sigh of relief.
But she added: "We mustn’t forget the hundreds of thousands of children outside the capital who are living below the poverty line but don’t qualify for the Free School Meals.
"Without action from central Government, there remains an unjust postcode lottery when it comes to Free School Meal access. Government now has the opportunity to deliver on its levelling up promises by addressing the inequalities inherent in our Free School Meal system."
Downing Street said eligibility for free school meals was kept under review but signalled that there were no plans to change policy.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The Government has expanded access to free school meals more than at any other time in recent decades, and the programme now reaches over a third of children in education settings.
"Universal infant free school meals have been introduced by the Government for every child in reception, years one and two. We also have the National School Breakfast programme, the £200 million-a-year Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
"We keep school meal eligibility under review but we continue to believe it's important it is targeted to ensure those meals are supporting those who need it most."
