GB News has plumbed new depths after questioning why the government is funding free breakfast clubs for primary school children.
This week, free breakfast clubs launched at 750 schools across England as part of a national trial that will run to July, ahead of an expected national rollout.
The clubs will provide thousands of parents of primary-aged children with access to half an hour of free morning childcare, whilst also making sure kids get a breakfast ahead of school.
You may think providing breakfast for school children is as close to a universally supported policy as you could imagine.
Not if you’re GB News though.
Speaking to Labour minister Stephen Morgan on Tuesday morning, presenters Eamonn Holmes and Anne Diamond questioned the policy and why it was the government’s job to make sure children don’t go to school hungry.
At one point, Holmes asked the minister why “giving some kid a bowl of cornflakes” is a priority for Labour, a sentiment then echoed by Diamond.
Later in the interview, Diamond suggested the government should instead be running a campaign “telling parents that it’s their responsibility to feed their children in the morning.”
The comments were roundly slammed online, with one person commenting: “You’ve gone too far with this, children in tough times getting a free breakfast at school should never be an issue, Jesus.”
Another said: “Tell me Eamon, what programs would you prioritise over given hungry children food at the start of school day? How far down the list of things government is able to do would you place it?”
A third sarcastically said: “Yeah why is feeding kids important? What a great question asked, good work.”
Speaking about the scheme, which launched on Tuesday, Education Secretary Phillipson said: “Free breakfast clubs are at the heart of our Plan for Change, making working parents’ lives easier and more affordable, while breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child.”
During last year’s election, Labour had campaigned on a pledge of free breakfast clubs in every English primary school and later tripled their funding for the scheme to £30m.
Ministers say the clubs will give parents up to 95 additional hours and save them £450 per year in childcare costs.
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