Lisa Nandy MP: Country so much better than its Government

In Greater Manchester we asked Ministers to recognise that our local businesses have already faced months of Government restrictions, unlike most of the country, and we need additional financial help to survive.

The Government reacted with fury, withdrawing all help at all and launched a series of attacks on the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Then just days later – as soon as London faced similar measures – the Chancellor U-turned and agreed that help must be forthcoming immediately.

Days later the Government once again behaved disgracefully when it ordered Conservative MPs to vote against children in England - nearly 230,000 in the North West alone - continuing to receive free school meals over the school holidays.

322 Conservative MPs including those in Leigh and Bolton West voted against providing help for children, leaving many children in Wigan facing hunger over the half-term break.

A number of Tory MPs arguing helping children who are starving would encourage ‘dependency’.

This is a Government that is happy to spend £175 million on the private sector consultants presiding over a failing test, trace and isolate system and PPE supplies, but cannot even find an estimated £21 million to feed children who would otherwise go hungry.

The Food Foundation found that more than 200,000 children have had to skip meals when families couldn’t afford food during lock down.

Our local families are facing a perfect storm – with the furlough scheme ending, the Job Support Scheme failing to protect jobs and unemployment rising.

Last time under pressure from Labour, the Government saw sense and agreed to provide free meals for children over the summer holidays, but this time it has decided to allow children to go hungry.

The Government has badly failed children in our community, but businesses, charities and councils are showing the best of Britain by taking matters into their own hands.

Nearly one million people from across the country, including over 6,000 from our borough, have signed a Parliamentary petition created by the footballer Marcus Rashford calling for meals and activities to be provided during all holidays in the future.

Following last week’s vote Wigan Council was one of the first in the country to announce that it would step in and fund free school meal vouchers for 10,500 local children in our borough during this half term.

And within hours of the school meals vote in Parliament, local businesses in Wigan took up the challenge to ensure that no child in our area would go hungry this half-term.

Food directory Wigan Eats launched a fundraising appeal to help provide 10,000 free lunches for children this half-term which raised £12,500 within 24 hours.

These meals are now being made available through The Old Courts and the brilliant charity Fur Clemt.

And our local businesses who have been struggling with Government restrictions for months have stepped forward to help the local children the Government has abandoned.

There are chippies in Shevington, pubs in Tyldesley and bistros in Wigan town centre providing free meals to the children who need them this half-term, with no judgment and lots of love.

People are coming together to take action and showing by doing so that our country is so much better than its Government.

The Government must think again, listen to local communities and agree to fund free school meals for all school holidays until spring 2021.

If they don’t, Labour will force a vote in Parliament again and again until they do.

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