Keir Starmer has refused to commit to supporting free school meals for all primary schoolchildren, as he stuck to a tough fiscal position despite pressure from inside and outside his party.
The Labour leader also declined to commit to a 6.5% pay rise for teachers as he urged the government to resolve the dispute at the centre of strike action.
Speaking before a keynote education-themed speech setting out his fifth and final “mission” aimed at removing barriers to opportunity, he said “we’ll have to wait and see” what the pay review body proposes.
Starmer, who is facing increasing calls to extend free school meals to every child in England if Labour makes it into power, said there was a “healthy debate taking place across all of society and particularly in the Labour party” when he was pressed about committing to such a policy.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if funding was a part of why he could not support the policy, he replied: “The money is a big factor, I won’t shy away from it. If we are privileged enough to come into power and serve we will inherit a broken economy, broken public services and we have to have clear rules of what we can’t afford.”
The Labour leader has come under pressure to adopt the free meals policy nationally since the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced free school meals for all primary pupils across the capital for a year from September.
The National Education Union has also called for long-term funding for the holiday activities and food programme fronted by the England footballer Marcus Rashford, offering free places to children whose families receive universal credit, in its policy submission to the party.
