BASINGSTOKE and Deane Labour Group hit out at Local Conservative MP’s after they vote against extending free school meals.

On Wednesday evening Labour’s bid to extend free school meals over the holidays was dealt a blow after MPs voted against the measure.

Labour’s motion, which called for the scheme to be extended over school holidays until Easter 2021, was defeated by 261 votes to 322 – majority 61.

The local Basingstoke and Deane Labour Group have spoken out on the vote.

In a statement the they said: “In spite of last night’s Parliamentary vote, all of us in the group are calling on the government to extend free school meals in the school holidays, including the upcoming October half term and Christmas, as part of a Labour campaign to ensure that no child goes hungry during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Labour had previously given Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak 72 hours to change their position and provide this support. With the deadline expired, the Party forced a Commons vote on the issue.”

Basingstoke has a surprisingly high number of children receiving school meals at 2,535,this is the same as many Northern and London constituencies.
Leader, Basingstoke and Deane Labour Group Cllr Andy McCormick said: “I would like to pay tribute to Marcus Rashford for his campaign and my Labour colleagues in Parliament and the Tory rebels who voted for our proposals last night. It should not be about politics, this is about humanity.

“I was, however, extremely disappointed by the tone of the debate last night, and disgusted at the things some MPs were saying in favour of not helping children, things like ‘children have always starved’, and ‘parents should take responsibility’, as if they’ll suddenly get a magic half-term or school holiday pay rise.

“Such attitudes are exactly the same as those held by their Tory predecessors over 150 years ago with the Irish potato famine. Child poverty has risen sharply over the past 10 years, and we are gazing into the abyss with this pandemic.

“I was extremely disappointed that our local MPs, Maria Miller, Kit Malthouse, and Ranil Jayawardena, did not support these simple proposals, which would not cost a great deal of money, to ensure our children get enough food to keep on learning.”

Cllr Andy McCormick ended his statement by claiming the “government has lost control of the virus” and that the Labour party will not let “families be the victims of the government’s incompetence”.