PM Told To Act Over Fear A Million Children Could Go Hungry In Summer Break

Boris Johnson is under pressure to extend the free school meals programme before the summer holidays amid warnings more than 1 million children face going hungry because of the cost of living crisis.

- Kate Devlin Zoe Tidman

Former education secretaries from both Labour and the Conservatives, as well as the mayor of London, unions and charities have urged the government to act as it did during the Covid pandemic.

As inflation surges the cost of some foods has already soared, while the governor of the Bank of England has warned of "apocalyptic" prices ahead. Justine Greening, the Conservative former education secretary, said: "The government has a chance to avoid the mess on free school meals that happened last year and get ahead of the next phase of the cost of living crisis for families."

Both she and Labour's Alan Johnson called on ministers to expand the system to include all children whose families receive universal credit benefits. They also called for less patchy support for schoolchildren in the summer holidays. During the Covid pandemic, the prime minister was forced into a humiliating climbdown over the provision of food to some of the country's poorest families, after a campaign led by England footballer Marcus Rashford.

Teaching unions have now written to the government warning that the cost of living crisis is leaving many families struggling. They have called for free school meals to be provided for all children from families receiving universal credit in England as an immediate first step. The former children's commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said she supports the move.