'We CAN afford to feed kids' says MP after school meals motion is voted down in parliament

A motion brought by Labour to expand free school meals for underpriveleged children over the school holidays was defeated in the House of Commons by 261 votes to 322.

Mr Trickett said: “Extending free school meals during this unprecedented time is vital. I'm deeply disappointed that the government voted against doing so.

"There is no reason this cannot be done. I have no patience with the view that we cannot afford it. A country which can't afford to feed it's children is unfit to be called civilised.

"It is fantastic to see leader Denise Jeffery and Wakefield Council stepping in to make sure that kids in our area do not go hungry. This is what real leadership looks like.”

Conservative MPs Imran Ahmad Khan, representing Wakefield, and Andrea Jenykns, representing Morley and Outwood, were among those to vote against the motion, in a move described as "shameful" and "callous" by the Wakefield branch of the National Education Union.