Extract from Welsh Parliament debate on free school meals eligibility - Feb 24
Thursday, 25 February 2021 08:11
Helen Mary Jones MS...Of course, we'd all commend the voluntary
work that Mick Antoniw describes, but does he really think these
families and their children should be depending on charity? I
hardly think that that's consistent with a person's socialist
principles. He says that we all agree to the principle that no
child in Wales should be going hungry. Well, I have to say that the
Child Poverty Action Group, supported by the Bevan Foundation and
that hotbed of nationalist politics the...Request free trial
MS...Of
course, we'd all commend the voluntary work that describes, but does he really think these families and
their children should be depending on charity? I hardly think that
that's consistent with a person's socialist principles. He says
that we all agree to the principle that no child in Wales should be
going hungry. Well, I have to say that the Child Poverty Action
Group, supported by the Bevan Foundation and that hotbed of
nationalist politics the National Education Union,
estimate that 70,000 children are going hungry today. So, it's no
good us talking about the principle. I can't imagine that anybody
in this room or practically anybody in Wales thinks that, in
principle, children shouldn't be fed, but those children are not
being fed today. I'll repeat what other Members have already said:
research from the Child Poverty Action Group shows that in terms of
access to free school meals, the Welsh Government has a tighter
means test and less generous universal infant provision than other
UK nations. That's not us saying that; that is the most respected
research and influencing bodies in this field...
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