A charity which advertises its vision as a “UK where no one goes hungry” lists a Tory MP among its trustees who voted against providing free meals for kids over the school holidays last night.
Labour’s last ditch attempt to see the free school meal scheme extended until Easter 2021 was overwhelmingly rejected in parliament with 322 MPs voting against it versus 261 who voted in favour.
Child Poverty Action Group said ” We’ve reached a low point” shortly after the vote with the Government ducking its “moral responsibility”.
But several Tory MPs have defended their actions, with backbencher Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw) saying he did not believe in “nationalising children”.
Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) said a food voucher scheme over the school holidays would only ever be a “sticking plaster” for tackling child poverty.
While Paul Scully also told the BBC that “children have been going hungry under a Labour government for years” and insisted the Government had been tackling the issue.
Jo Gideon, the MP for Stoke Central, has been called out on social media for voting against the motion to help feed children, despite being a trustee for Feeding Britain.
According to the charity’s mission statement, they believe in a UK “where no one goes hungry”.
“We want to demonstrate how hunger and its underlying causes can be addressed, and use this learning to advocate for systemic change to eliminate hunger in the UK.”
Gideon tweeted last night that she is “determined to work cross-party to develop support for more comprehensive, more fundamental and more long-term solutions than today’s headline grabbing motion”.
