We must feed ALL children.. and ALL MSPs should back it
Neil supports school meals campaign
A former SNP health secretary has called on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to tackle child poverty by supporting free school meals for every child.
Alex Neil said it wasn’t just a good idea but now “essential” due to the spiralling cost- of-living crisis. And he called on backbenchers in every party to stand up to their front-bench colleagues to make it a priority.
A Sunday Mail-led campaign is calling for the current free meals provision for P1- 5 pupils to be rolled out to all primary and secondary school pupils.
Last week the campaign received the support of Scotland captain Andy Robertson, who has funded measures to tackle poverty through his charity and supporting food banks. He told how he felt compelled to speak out now with the rising number of people struggling to feed their families.
Neil said the Liverpool left-back’s intervention was “fantastic” and should prompt all MSPs to get behind the campaign, arguing that giving children free school meals not only made sense for their immediate health but for the economy in the future.
He said: “It’s just ridiculous that hardly anybody is campaigning on this in the parliament. It’s time that some of these backbenchers, in every party, stood up to the front benches because this should be a top priority.
“It’s absolutely essential because there are something like a third of children going to school with an empty stomach. These children won’t learn anything.
“If you’re going to school hungry, your chances of doing well are dramatically reduced. It seems to me that if we’re serious about the strategy for tackling child poverty, we have to look at free school meals for all children.”
And he criticised the First Minister and Greens coalition partner Patrick Harvie for missing an urgent vote on the issue last month.
He explained :“It’ s disappointing. It was important for them to take the lead and show that tackling child poverty is a top priority for the Scottish Government.”
Neil, who stood down as an MSP last year after more than two decades in Holyrood, said that although there would be a large upfront cost to the policy, it would have long-term benefits.
He said: “All the evidence I’ve ever seen demonstrates that the taxpayer, after the first 15 years, gets a huge return on their investment in free school meals and it saves money in the long run.
“Children who are properly fed will do much better at school and much better in life in terms of employment. “They’re also going to have a much healthier life as an adult.”
Neil, who campaigned for free school meals when joining parliament in 1999, said it was a positive step that more children now receive free meals than back then but it is still not enough.
He added: “The number of kids getting it now has increased significantly but we are really at the stage where we have to look seriously at extending it to all children at school.”
Leading poverty charities and unions have backed universal free school meals and warned of dire consequences for some children without it. It’s estimated the policy could cost an extra £14million. Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the current policy for P1-P5 would help to “reduce the impact of poverty on thousands of families across the country”.
A Scott ish Government spokesman said: “Pupils in primary one to five at publicly funded schools already benefit from universal free school lunches during term time, as well as eligible pupils within other age groups, saving families on average £ 400 per child per year.
“We remain committed to rolling out free school lunches to all children in primary school dur ing the course of this parliamentary term.”
We’re at the stage we have to look seriously at extending it to all children at school