I am delighted that the Government has u-turned and agreed to fund free school meals over the summer.  Huge thanks must go to the incredible campaigning of Marcus Rashford, who used his own personal experiences to improve the lives of 1.3 million children this summer.

In Hornsey & Wood Green, 3,037 children were at risk of going hungry this summer as the government had withdrawn support for the provision of free school meals. With the added pressure of the coronavirus crisis plunging families into deeper poverty and social distancing raising questions on whether holiday lunch schemes may run, many families were rightly concerned about how they will afford food during the summer holidays.

There is a simple solution to this, and that is for the government to continue funding free school meals throughout the summer holidays. Their refusal to do so was a deeply callous move.

That is why Labour used our Opposition Day in Parliament to push the Government into action as part of our ‘Holiday without Hunger’ campaign.’