When you’re hungry, it is difficult to learn. But a special investigation by the Evening Standard and the Independent has found an alarming and growing food crisis among children who live in poverty but are not eligible for free school meals.
This is leading to increasingly desperate behaviour. Headteachers and youth workers tell of students and parents stealing food from canteens and shops, risking a criminal record, to feed themselves or their families.
The people most at risk are not the absolute poorest, they say, but those who are just above that threshold and therefore do not qualify for free school meals. Figures from the Child Poverty Action Group suggest that up to 800,000 children in England live in households on Universal Credit but do not qualify for free school meals because their annual household earnings before benefits exceed £7,400.
This threshold also does not take into account the number of children in a family. In reality, it means young people growing up in households receiving £617 a month after tax are found not to qualify for this vital lifeline.
We are heading into a difficult winter, marked by a toxic combination of rising bills, inflation and a potential real-terms cut to benefits. Now more than ever, our education and social security systems must ensure that students have at least one decent meal a day at school. Anything else would represent an administrative and moral failure.
The Government, City Hall and local authorities must come together to secure a solution to this hunger crisis.
Putin’s cruel attacks
Over the weekend the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to illegally annexed Crimea, partially collapsed following an explosion. The retribution has been swift and indiscriminate.
Multiple missiles have struck Kyiv, killing innocent civilians. Locations hit include homes, children’s playgrounds and the Klitschko Bridge, a glass pedestrian crossing in the Ukrainian capital.
The Kerch Bridge, on the other hand, has been heavily utilised by Moscow to move military equipment and personnel into Ukraine for Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion. Widespread attacks on non-military targets are straight out of his playbook. They serve no purpose other than to terrorise civilians and to remind the international community — were such a message needed — that he is capable of indiscriminate cruelty.
These acts of criminal violence will only serve to strengthen the resolve of Ukrainian forces and that of the West.
Art with big message
From its opening in 2000, the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern has been home to many of the world’s most extraordinary and celebrated pieces of art. This year is no exception. Chilean artist, poet and activist Cecilia Vicuña has followed in the footsteps of Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson in creating two new and spectacular structures.
These are woven together from different materials and hang nearly 30 metres from the ceiling at opposite ends of the hall, integrated with audio and digital elements. Brain Forest Quipu represents an act of mourning for the destruction of natural habitats and the impact on the climate and indigenous people.
It is a sombre and urgent piece of art. The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, so do go down to the river and take in the extraordinary sights and sounds.
