MPs who voted against extending Free School Meals "should hang heads in shame" says Warrington North MP

WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols says MPs who voted against Labour’s motion to extend Free School Meals during holidays until Easter next year, “should hang their heads in shame.”

But despite some unease on the Tory benches, a motion on providing 1.4m disadvantaged children in England with £15-a-week food vouchers during holidays until next Easter was voted down by 322 votes to 261, with Warrington South MP Andy Carter voting with the Government.
Ms Nichols said: “Child hunger is a political choice, and the Government had the opportunity tonight to ensure that no child in our community falls through the gaps in the safety net provided locally during the school holidays.
“Nelson Mandela once said “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” and I wonder what it says about our country that our Government has chosen not to do all it can to ensure children aren’t going to bed hungry, given what it does seem to be able to find the money for- from dodgy PPE contracts for their mates to the billions wasted on our failing test and trace system.
“Families are struggling more than ever with redundancies, hours being cut, and a Universal Credit system that wasn’t fit for purpose even before our current crisis. These are exceptional times and I hope we will see a swift U-turn on this, or all those who voted against this motion should hang their heads in shame.”
Speaking in parliament Ms Nichols praised the work of Warrington Foodbank, Station House Foodbank, Friends of Meadowside and the numerous other voluntary groups across Warrington North who are doing all they can to ensure no child goes hungry.
“Almost 4,5000 children are eligible for free school meals in my constituency, many are vulnerable and falling through the cracks.”
Explaining his decision to vote against Labour’s motion Mr Carter said: “Free school meals continue through term time as they always have. The opposition motion yesterday was about extending Free School meals across holidays to Easter next year.
“Government took the decision in the summer, because of the impact of the national lockdown, to extend the voucher scheme it had put in place across the summer holiday but this ended when schools returned in September and school kitchens were able to re-open.
“To support the most vulnerable children £63 million has been allocated to local authorities, in our case Warrington Borough Council, to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable families where this is needed, so it’s not the case that children who need support are not getting it.
“This emergency help is set alongside and in addition to the extra £9 billion funding for the welfare system, where Government have increased funding for universal credit by £1,000 per year.
“My view is that It’s very helpful for support to be given through local social services teams who know which families need the support and can ensure the right support gets to the right places.
Finally, the opposition day motion was not a vote on legislation, there was no Bill put forward by Labour so the law couldn’t be changed even if the vote had gone the other way.”
Meanwhile, one Tory MP has already quit her government job after voting for Labour’s motion to offer free school meals during holidays until Easter 2021.
Caroline Ansell said vouchers were not a long-term solution – but they helped families struggling with the pandemic.
Meanwhile Manchester United Footballer Marcus Rashford, who is leading a campaign on child hunger, had urged MPs to “unite” and stop being influenced by “political affiliation” and was left “in despair” after the vote.
Home Office Minister Kit Malthouse insisted the government was helping low-income families through the welfare system.