Tories flounder as child hunger protests grow
Education union calls for ‘urgent’action on school meals
11-month-old Sophie Turpin eating a banana provided by volunteers in London Fields, east London, who are providing free school meals for children over the half term holidays
EFFORTS to feeds hundreds of thousands of vulnerable schoolchildren continued today as the government refused to reverse its decision to deny them free meals during the October half-term break.
Protests multiplied outside the offices of Tory MPs who last Wednesday voted down a Labour proposal in the Commons to continue providing school meals or vouchers during the break, as happened over the summer.
Ministers said today that they are examining how holiday clubs could be used to feed hungry children in England in an effort to defuse the row.
Similar stories
Tony Benn’s constituents chose him by an overwhelming majority — but because he had inherited a peerage, parliamentary rules declared their choice invalid, writes MAT COWARD
