Two-thirds of people in England support extending free school meals to all primary school children, a new poll by More in Common and the National Education Union reveals. The policy unites Labour's fragmented 2024 general election voters, with backing from 83% of Labour loyalists, 84% of those who switched to left-wing parties, and 67% of those who switched to right-wing parties.
Pressure on Andy Burnham
The findings pile pressure on Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham to go even further than Keir Starmer in expanding free school meals (FSM) access. Starmer announced that all children in families receiving Universal Credit will be eligible for free hot lunches from September, benefiting half a million children. The Mirror has long campaigned for universal FSM for all primary pupils.
Among the survey's other findings, support is strongest among parents, with 82% backing universal FSM. However, support is not limited to direct beneficiaries: 63% of people without children and 66% of those describing themselves as financially comfortable also back the policy.
Reasons for Support
Tackling child poverty is the biggest reason people support the policy (37%), ahead of easing the cost of living for families (33%) and ensuring all children are treated equally (33%). Susan, a construction worker who switched from Labour to Reform, told researchers: "Punishing the child for the parents working. The parents can be working and them kids could still not be getting fed."
Justin, an IT worker and Labour loyalist, added: "The fact that children can eat together, I think it's a very important stage of kids' lives. It's a place where they're doing a lot of the learning, even though it's not in lessons, it's in the lunch halls. And for the social aspect, remember these kids have endured COVID, so they've lost a lot of this time being able to just be in a lunch hall."
Government Position
In a speech on Wednesday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson threw her weight behind a "universal early years" offer, arguing that increasing access to Government-funded childcare will help counter the youth unemployment crisis and boost growth. Alex Newton, deputy director at More in Common, said: "Universal free school meals for primary pupils represents a real opportunity for incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The policy, which Burnham previously championed, bridges Britain's political divides, has the backing of 65% of the public and provides a rare point of cross-spectrum consensus."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "This government is giving free school meals to every single child from a household that claims Universal Credit – a historic step backed by over £1billion in funding that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty. This is alongside the removal of the two-child limit, which taken together, is set to lead to the largest reduction in child poverty in a single parliament, since records began."
The poll surveyed 2,011 adults between 10-13 April and 2,993 adults between 19-22 June in England.
