TV chef Jamie Oliver has said it is “madness” to scrap free school meals for infants - as pledged in the Conservative party’s manifesto launched earlier this week.
In a letter to the Sunday Times, Mr Oliver says the plan to end free school meals for children in reception to Year 2 and instead offer all primary schoolchildren breakfast has “shocked and disappointed” him.
He was joined by the letter’s co-signatories Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, co-authors of the School Food Plan and restauranteur Yotam Ottolenghi - a best-selling food writer whose recipes are admired by prime minister Theresa May.
The letter states: “Opening more breakfast clubs is a great idea - and one we argued for in the School Food Plan - but it makes no sense to rob Peter to pay Paul.”
They argue that giving young children a “proper cooked meal” to eat in the middle of the day will help tackle the obesity epidemic among children. Nearly a third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese, according to official statistics.
“It’s madness to scrap a policy with so much positive potential so early in its implementation,” the letter states. “Many head teachers have made heroic efforts to upgrade their kitchens and catering services; the sunk costs of these upgrades cannot be recovered, nor have they yet had time to earn their keep.”The policy of universal free school meals for infants was introduced by the coalition government in 2014. And the Liberal Democrats, who were behind the change, have now said in their manifesto that they want to extend free school meals to all children in primary education.
Labour has also pledged to introduce free school meals for all primary school children.
But the Conservatives say that the plan to replace universal free lunches for infants with free school breakfasts for all pupils will save £650m a year which will go towards a pledge to boost school funding by £4bn over the next parliament.
The Conservative manifesto also pledged forgiveness on student loan repayments for new teachers while they are teaching, to lift the ban on establishing new grammar schools and to make sure every 11-year-old knows their times tables.
