The Labour Mayor of London , has today condemned comments
made by his Tory opponent saying she is opposed to his flagship
policy of providing free school meals for all state primary
children in the capital.
At a hustings last night, the Tory candidate made the controversial comments
including –
“There is no such thing as a free school meal. People have to
pay for it.
“And they are telling me also that they don't think it's fair
that they are having to pay towards millionaires' kids or people
that can really afford it. And we have to look at
this.
“But there has to be a better way of doing this.
“But don't ever kid yourself that it's free school meals.
Because somebody has got to pay for them. And the money should go
in the right place to the kids
that really need it.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said -
“Delivering universal free school meals for state
primary school children has been one of my proudest moments
as Mayor. They were also lifeline for me personally growing up.
With the continuing cost-of-living crisis, it means parents don't
have to worry about whether their children will get a healthy,
nutritious meal every day.
“My Tory opponent has finally revealed what she thinks about the
policy. Frankly it's a disgrace that anyone running for Mayor
would want to roll back a policy that's ensuring children across
the London aren't going hungry. Without it, thousands of families
on low incomes who are really struggling would lose support. What
does Susan Hall have against feeding hungry children?
“The election is a close two-horse race, and the choice has never
been starker. My commitment to supporting all state primary
school parents with free school meals, or my hard-right Tory
opponent who is against the policy and wants to scrap it.”
Note
Previously a household on universal credit must earn less than
£7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits), regardless
of the number of children in the family, to be eligible for free
school meals. This means that many children from working families
in poverty aren't entitled to free school meals nationally.
Up to 287,000 children across London are already benefitting from
free school meals this academic year (2023/ 2024)
after the Mayor stepped in with historic funding – helping
parents financially and providing children with a guaranteed
healthy, nutritious meal.
Analysis shows the policy will save families up to £1,000 over
two years per child as the cost-of-living crisis continues.
--
Full transcript from the London Jewish Forum's Jewish
Community Mayoral Hustings last night (Thurs 11 May)
Susan Hall -
“There is no such thing as a free school meal. People
have to pay for it.
“And what we have to bear in mind is that we could have people on
the breadline, without children, having to pay towards people –
food for people – that maybe are millionaires' children.
“It is absolutely appropriate that we make sure that children
whose parents cannot afford to feed them, that we look after
those children.
“There is no question about that at all. But it is wrong, and I
have been knocking on doors all over London, and people are
telling me the quality of some of these meals is so bad that they
are sending their kids in with packed lunches instead.
“And they are telling me also that they don't think it's
fair that they are having to pay towards millionaires' kids or
people that can really afford it. And we have to look at
this. Now I've agreed that I would continue it for
a year, because some people have baked it into their finances.
And so that would be unfair to take it away. And it's gone into
the actual accounts.
“But there has to be a better way of doing
this. There has to be a way of making sure that
kids, whose parents cannot afford it, they get the free school
meals, as was the case, and maybe that needs to be enhanced.
“But don't ever kid yourself that it's free school meals.
Because somebody has got to pay for them. And the money should go
in the right place to the kids
that really need it.”
