Corbyn calls for free school meals for primary school children
He joined a rally of around a thousand people at the Emmanuel Centre conference hall in Westminster following a march from Westminster Cathedral, past the offices of the Department for Education.
Corbyn focused on how budget cuts were affecting schools and told them that the problems facing the education system were ‘extremely serious’.
He said: “Thank you to all those teachers – and I know you do it all the time – who dip into your own pockets and purses in order to make sure children get something to eat – because you can see the hunger in their eyes and their inability to learn because of their hunger. That should not be the case in this country the sixth richest in the world.”
Currently, all children in Infant school (Reception, Year 1 and 2) are entitled to a free school meal at lunchtime, if it was to be extended to all primary school, it would benefit children up to Year 6.