Jamie Oliver is calling for more free school meals help as two-thirds of voters back the expansion of help to all children whose families receive universal credit – as campaigned for by The Independent.
The celebrity chef is among those asking the government to “put children’s health first” and widen the eligibility for free school meals. Under current rules, only children from households with an income below £7,400 – after tax and benefits – are eligible.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to roll out free primary school meals to all pupils in London in a year-long pilot after this newspaper campaigned to expand the help.
Now, new research, commissioned by the School Food Review Working Group, found that 68 per cent of voters are in favour of extending free school meals to all children whose families receive universal credit. Some 82 per cent of prospective Labour voters agree, as do 53 per cent of Conservative voters, the polling shows.
And 65 per cent of Labour voters and 18 per cent of Tory voters said they would be more likely to vote for Sir Keir Starmer’s party if they committed to the expansion, campaigners said.
The £7,400 income threshold for families has not been increased since 2018, despite rising food prices. This means that an estimated 900,000 schoolchildren living in poverty are not eligible, they added.
Responding to the polling, Jamie Oliver said it was “great to see that voters across all parties want to put child health first”.
