We once led the country on free meals issue

HULL has had its own debacle over school meals in the last year.

The council-subsidised scheme to provide 50p meals to those not receiving free school meals came to a disastrous end with prices increasing by up to 250 per cent and Labour councillors, elected on a promise to maintain that scheme, defending the huge price rises.

Now though, particularly because of the efforts of the footballer Marcus Rashford, the issue of food poverty and school meals has come to the fore nationally again.

Although his campaign has revolved around continuing free school meal provision in school holidays for struggling families, it’s actually probably those not automatically eligible for free school meals but affected by the drop in wages which the Covid crisis is causing who are also struggling.

MPS, almost exclusively Conservative MPS, voted this week not to continue with the emergency school meal voucher scheme, which has helped many families in the last nine months.

At the same time these very same MPS, arguing that the State should not have to support families with food as well as benefits, are themselves benefiting from a Parliamentary Catering Service which in 2018-19 cost the taxpayer £2.6m to run, over and above what it made from its charges. The hypocrisy of such a position is too blindingly obvious to have to explain.

Many councils are now rushing to provide food during school holidays – Birmingham and even Conservative-run Kensington and Chelsea.