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10.21am BST
Ahead of the debate on free school meals, the England and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, whose campaigning on this issue led directly to the government agreeing to fund food vouchers for poor children in England over the summer, posted this on Twitter.
Paying close attention to the Commons today and to those who are willing to turn a blind eye to the needs of our most vulnerable children, 2.2M of them who currently qualify for Free School Meals. 42% newly registered. Not to mention the 1.5M children who currently don’t qualify.
No one will be turning a blind eye and it is wrong to suggest anyone would.
Not destroying the currency with excessive QE is also one of our duties. https://t.co/EeDp1x3d85
You have 3.4M followers Marcus, to my 96K. The power is yours here.
Everyone knows feeding hungry children is a top priority. I’d like to see UC boosted.
But if the economy and currency collapse, the poor will be devastated.
Alleging a blind eye is just wrong.
10.15am BST
MPs will later vote on a Labour motion on free school meals. It says calls on the government “to continue directly funding provision of free school meals over the school holidays until Easter 2021 to prevent over a million children going hungry during this crisis”.
Even if it were to pass, the vote would not be binding on the government. But Labour has called the vote as a means of putting pressure on ministers, because it will be embarrassing for MPs to be seen to vote against this.
What the government needs to do is to have a long-term plan, sit down with the taskforce set up by Marcus Rashford and actually come up with a serious plan and a budget to deal with this problem.
All the statistics show that families are struggling. We know that 10% of families are affected by food insecurity.
Continue reading…Latest updates: South Yorkshire third region in England to get strictest measures after local leaders agreed a deal with governmentSouth Yorkshire agrees to go under tier 3 Covid restrictionsAndy Burnham hits out at Tory MPs over negotiations criticismGyms allowed to reopen in Merseyside after tier 3 Covid rowTier 3 lockdowns in England: latest Covid restrictions explainedGlobal coronavirus updates – live 10.21am BSTAhead of the debate on free school meals, the England and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, whose campaigning on this issue led directly to the government agreeing to fund food vouchers for poor children in England over the summer, posted this on Twitter.Paying close attention to the Commons today and to those who are willing to turn a blind eye to the needs of our most vulnerable children, 2.2M of them who currently qualify for Free School Meals. 42% newly registered. Not to mention the 1.5M children who currently don’t qualify.No one will be turning a blind eye and it is wrong to suggest anyone would. Not destroying the currency with excessive QE is also one of our duties. https://t.co/EeDp1x3d85You have 3.4M followers Marcus, to my 96K. The power is yours here.Everyone knows feeding hungry children is a top priority. I’d like to see UC boosted.But if the economy and currency collapse, the poor will be devastated.Alleging a blind eye is just wrong. 10.15am BSTMPs will later vote on a Labour motion on free school meals. It says calls on the government “to continue directly funding provision of free school meals over the school holidays until Easter 2021 to prevent over a million children going hungry during this crisis”.Even if it were to pass, the vote would not be binding on the government. But Labour has called the vote as a means of putting pressure on ministers, because it will be embarrassing for MPs to be seen to vote against this.What the government needs to do is to have a long-term plan, sit down with the taskforce set up by Marcus Rashford and actually come up with a serious plan and a budget to deal with this problem.All the statistics show that families are struggling. We know that 10% of families are affected by food insecurity. Continue reading…