1 week Ago By [email protected] (Hannah Rodger)
The Scottish Conservative Party is due to raise the issue in parliament this week. Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter We have more newsletters Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter We have more newsletters John Swinney will face a humiliating vote at Holyrood over his decision to scrap his free school meals plan, the Sunday Mail can reveal. The Tories aim to table a motion in support of the SNP’s manifesto commitment to deliver free lunches for all P6 and P7 children this week.
Tory education spokesman Liam Kerr hopes it will force a U-turn. Previously the SNP promised to roll out the free lunch plans to all primary kids, delivering by the end of the current parliament in 2026. Kerr, an MSP for North East Scotland, said: "John Swinney and the SNP have shamefully abandoned Scotland's poorest pupils by axing the universal roll-out of free school meals in primary schools.
"We're using crucial parliamentary time this week urging him to reverse that shocking decision." The Sunday Mail has led a campaign for universal free school meals for all primary and secondary pupils with politicians, charities and celebrities backing the cause. SNP MSPs could be left red-faced if they don’t support Kerr's motion as it was their manifesto pledge but backing the Tories could prove problematic for their voters.
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To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The motion is expected to draw widespread backing from across the political spectrum.
Kerr said: "John Swinney, as education secretary, personally made this promise to deliver free school meals to every primary school pupil in Scotland. "Ditching it flies in the face of the SNP’s plans to eradicate child poverty. I urge the SNP to do the right thing and deliver this pledge as promised.
"If the SNP will not U-turn then I call on MSPs from all parties to join the Scottish Conservatives and send the strongest possible message to the SNP in this vote on Wednesday and back the roll-out of free school meals for all primary pupils." Labour MSP Monica Lennon has backed our campaign and championed the cause at Holyrood. She said: "If MSPs take back control and use our votes to back the rollout of universal free school meals, the SNP cannot ignore the will of parliament.
"It's disgraceful that the SNP is ditching its promise on free school meals for all primary pupils when so many kids are going to school hungry. "Thanks to the Sunday Mail and tireless campaigning by the STUC Women's Committee , there is widespread public and political backing for universal free school meals. If Wales and London can do it there's no good reason why Scotland can't.
" Roz Foyer , STUC general secretary, described Swinney's decision as "unforgivable". The U-turn could leave the SNP unable to get its budget through parliament as the support it usually gets from the Scottish Greens is no longer guaranteed since the Bute House Agreement ended in April. Greens co-leader Lorna Slater attacked the U-turn, describing the decision as a "betrayal".
A senior source said: "The Greens might change their mind and support the budget if there's a U-turn on free school meals. "Otherwise the government might have to do a deal with the Lib Dems and get their MSPs to abstain from voting. Whatever way you look at it they're in a tricky position.
" A Scottish Government said it had warned about "growing pressure on the public finances". It added: "That means that, while we remain resolutely committed to the universal expansion of free school meals in primary schools, this will not now be fully completed by 2026. "We continue to provide free school meals for nearly 278,000 pupils in primaries 1 to 5, special schools and to those eligible to S6.
.. we will now expand provision further to those in Primary 6 and 7 in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.
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