Sunderland MP says Government was 'shamed into backing down' over free summer school meals

Sharon Hodgson, the Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, was speaking after Downing Street reversed its initial decision following pressure from Manchester United and England football striker Marcus Rashford.

Around 1.3 million children nationwide now are expected to benefit from £120m of funding across the six-week break.

As well as praising Rashford, Mrs Hodgson also said the Government had been “shamed into backing down instead of doing the right thing in the first place.”

She believes 3,616 children in her constituency will benefit from the funding extension with “many families rightly concerned about how they will afford food during he summer holidays”.

Mrs Hodgson, who has campaigned on free school meals since becoming an MP in 2005, said: “Like Marcus Rashford, I grew up on free school meals, so I know how important they are to families on low incomes.

“That is why I set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group on School Food in 2010 to campaign for better free school meal provision.

“This isn’t a new problem, we know that some children go hungry during the summer holidays in ‘normal’ times. But we aren’t in ‘normal’ times.

“I welcome the Government’s u-turn on this, but they should never have delayed on this. They were shamed into backing down instead of doing the right thing in the first place.

“Children are at a heightened risk of going hungry this summer as the covid-19 crisis hits family incomes, and charities and food banks struggle to provide the same level of holiday support.

“I will continue to join MPs, charities, organisations and local authorities to campaign to keep the importance of free school meals and holiday hunger on the agenda at all times, not just during a pandemic.”

Downing Street announced the u-turn on Tuesday, June 16, and said the new Covid Summer Food Fund would provide vouchers eligible to be used in supermarkets.

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