Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Helen Morgan has expressed disappointment that North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson failed to support proposals for free school meals in the holidays, despite a recent Children’s Society report showing 31% of children in North Shropshire live in poverty.
Helen said:
‘The report by the Children’s Society makes sobering reading – nearly a third of North Shropshire’s children live in poverty. It’s just unacceptable for their own MP to reject measures designed to help them, when they have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
‘These numbers aren’t theoretical. The Oswestry and Borders food bank has reported a 42% increase in the number of people needing help from April to September, showing that more and more local families are struggling to feed their children. It’s outrageous that the Conservatives do not recognise this hardship.
‘That’s why Kirsty Williams, the Lib Dem Education Minister for Wales, has acted to help hungry children in Wales, and why the Liberal Democrats are joining Marcus Rashford in his campaign to ensure that the most vulnerable English children don’t go hungry in the school holidays.’
No child should have to go hungry, on any day of the year
Liberal Democrats are calling for:
- Free school meals to every pupil whose parents or guardians are in receipt of Universal Credit
- Food vouchers for every one of those pupils in every school holiday and during any period of lockdown
- Free school meals to pupils from low-income families whose parents or guardians have no recourse to public funds and destitute asylum seekers.
For more information:
The Liberal Democrat campaign for free school meals can be found here:
The full report by the Children’s society for North Shropshire can be found here:
The news release by the Oswestry and Borders Foodbank can be found here:
Helen Morgan
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for North Shropshire
07508 550361
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