Don’t do a Nick Clegg on hungry school kids
Harvie warned a U-turn will be like Lib Dem tuition fees fiasco
The Scottish Greens face demands to prioritise “hungry children over their hunger for power” and back free school meals in a crunch Holyrood vote.
Co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater made an election manifesto commitment last year to support meals for all secondary and primary pupils.
But after entering a governing coalition with the SNP there are fears the party will U-turn on the policy in an expected Scottish Parliament vote on June 14 that could make it law.
All of Scotland’s opposition parties including the Tories are expected to back an amendment to the Good Food Nation Bill set to be tabled by Labour MSP Monica Lennon that would ensure all pupils get a hot dinner if they want it.
It means the support of the Greens could secure its success after research suggested one in five families were being forced to skip meals due to the cost of living crisis.
Failure to do so has been described as a potential “Nick Clegg moment” for the Greens, in reference to the Lib Dems’ disastrous U-turn on opposing tuition fees after going into coalition with the Conservatives at Westminster.
Lennon said: “Holyrood came so close to taking a bold step towards ending child hunger in Scotland that when the Scottish Greens voted against the universal free school meals proposal at committee, I thought it must have been a genuine mistake.
“After all, expanding universal free school meals is a key promise in the Scottish Green’s manifesto and they pride themselves on being principled and democratic.
“It was frustrating that the bid was rejected by one vote.
“If the Scottish Greens had stuck to their public promises, the requirement for universal free school meals would already be in the Good Food Nation Bill.
“Thanks to the tireless campaigning of the STUC Women’s Committee, teacher s , young people and anti-poverty groups, the Scottish Tories and Lib Dems have joined Scottish Labour in urging the Scottish Government to expand free school lunches for all.
“It’s now up to the Scottish Greens to make amends and back this when the final vote comes before Parliament.
“It would be humiliating if this became the Scottish Green’s Nick Clegg moment. When the former Lib Dem leader broke his party’s pledge on university tuition fees to become the junior partner in government, a whole generation of students felt betrayed.
“For the Scottish Greens, they now need to decide whether their hunger for power is more important to them than feeding hungry children.” The Scottish Government has already committed to providing free school meals to all primary one to five pupils.
However, ministers are understood to have asked officials to crunch the numbers and find out how much it would cost to expand the policy to all kids in primary and secondary education.
It has been estimated meals could be delivered for as little as £ 4million a year based on a 10 per cent uptake among Scotland’s 300,000 secondary pupils.
The Sunday Mail understands SNP cabinet secretary Mairi Gougeon has kept the door open to backing the move in talks ahead of a vote.
A Scot t ish Government spokesperson said :“Any amendments to the Good Food Nation( Scotland) Bill will be considered as par t of Stage Three proceedings.”
In England and Wales there were calls last week for all children in families receiving Universal Credit must be given free school meals.
Teaching groups, trade unions and foodbank charities have all backed universal free school meals in Scotland, along with Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MSPs.
Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said: “The Scottish Greens are working hard to deliver free school meals for as many pupils as possible, as quickly as possible.
“We’ ve already secured universal free meals for primary pupils up to P5 and ensured tens of millions of pounds went to councils this year to expand their catering facilities ahead of a further rollout to older children.”
It is up to the Greens to make amends and back this at the final vote