Shropshire Star

Tory plans for free breakfast for all primary school children scrapped

Education Minister Robert Goodwill confirmed “we will not be pursuing universal breakfasts for primary school children”.

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Tory plans to offer all primary school children in England a free breakfast have been officially dropped in what Labour branded a “humiliating U-turn”.

The Government confirmed that the Conservative manifesto commitment to offer breakfasts had been scrapped after announcing earlier this month that the existing system of free lunches for infants would remain.

The Conservative election manifesto had vowed to end the free lunches to save money and replace them with breakfasts for all primary school children, but that plan was abandoned after Theresa May failed to win a majority.

The Conservative Party's manifesto, Forward Together
Free breakfasts for school children was a pledge made in the Conservative Party’s manifesto (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

In a Commons written answer, slipped out after Parliament had risen for its summer recess, Education Minister Robert Goodwill confirmed “we will not be pursuing universal breakfasts for primary school children and we will be retaining the existing provision for universal infant free school meals”.

But he said the Government would invest in a “breakfast club programme” announced in August last year, which committed £10 million a year raised from the sugar tax – officially the “soft drinks industry levy” – to expand provision in up to 1,600 schools.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: “This is yet another humiliating U-turn on education policy from Theresa May’s weak and wobbly government.

“Breakfast doesn’t mean breakfast, and they have made a mess of it. To think that they spent the election campaign telling us that universal free school meals were unaffordable and promising to provide free breakfasts instead – at a paltry 7p a serving.

“Just weeks later they have abandoned that pledge as they beat a full scale retreat from their own manifesto. How can anyone believe a word they now say?

“Only Labour has a fully-funded plan to provide free school meals to all primary pupils while protecting schools’ budgets in real terms.”

The Department for Education said minister Lord Nash told peers the breakfast plans had been abandoned earlier this month.

On July 4, he said: “As far as breakfast is concerned, we do not plan to introduce free breakfasts, although we will continue to work on a number of schemes for breakfast clubs, such as Magic Breakfast.”

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