School meal snub would 'leave kids abandoned'

THE SNP has been urged not to "abandon" young people by scrapping universal free school meals for primary pupils.

- CHRIS McCALL

It comes after the ) Scottish Government last week U-turned on rolling out free meals to all P6 and P7 pupils It had previously promised to offer them to all schoolchildren but altered the pledge in its Programme for Government due to a funding black hole.

The issue was last night put to a vote in Holyrood, which the government lost after opposition MSPs backed a motion demanding the provision of free dinners to every primary school pupil.

The vote was nonbinding and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the government will stick to its decision despite the defeat.