The Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today warned that thousands of children in state primary schools in Lambeth risk losing access to nutritious free school meals if his Tory opponent wins the Mayoral election on 2nd May 2024.
At a hustings last week, the Tory candidate for Mayor Susan Hall made clear she would cancel Sadiq’s policy of providing universal free school meals for all state primary school children, implementing a targeted system instead.
In Lambeth, 1,047 children in state primary schools are currently eligible for a free hot nutritious meal at lunch time, funded by the Mayor’s office. In total 198,930 free school meals will have been given out by the end of this school year in Lambeth as part of the Mayor’s provision.
The Mayor’s policy is saving families up to £1,000 over two years per child as the cost-of-living crisis continues.
Today, Sadiq criticised the Tory proposals as “heartless”. He went on to say:
“Under Tory proposals huge numbers of lower and middle-income families would miss out, and they are really struggling right now. It’s not just about wealthy households as the Tories suggest.”
Under Government eligibility rules used in the rest of the country, households on universal credit must earn less than £7,400 a year to be eligible for free school meals funded by ministers.
This means that many children from low-income families and in poverty aren’t entitled to free school meals nationally. In Lambeth, the households of 1,047 children would now miss out on free school meals if this national eligibility was applied again in London under Tory plans.
At a hustings on 11 May, the Tory candidate for Mayor, Susan Hall, revealed her opposition to universal free school meals, saying –
“There is no such thing as a free 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 Mayoral election on 2 May is a close two-horse race between a Labour Mayor who is delivering a fairer London for all and the Tory candidate who has voted against free school meals for all state primary school pupils and Sadiq’s fares freeze.
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 a 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 London aren’t going hungry.
Without it, thousands of families in Lambeth on low incomes who are really struggling would lose support.
“Under Tory proposals huge numbers of lower and middle income families would miss out, and they are really struggling right now. It’s not just about wealthy households as the Tories suggest.
“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.”
Our current Mayor will stop at nothing, his view of a fairer London is to continue to penalise any group of people he personally dislikes. Surely targeting the people most in need for support is a better option than offering a benefit to all including those that don’t need it.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Maybe look to the increases in the mayoral precept part of your council tax to understand who is really underwriting Khan’s pre-election giveaways.