Tories to force vote on SNP’s abandonment of free school meals pledge

By Bill Heaney 

The SNP will be urged to U-turn on their plans to ditch their pledge to deliver free school meals to all primary pupils in Holyrood this week.

The Scottish Conservatives will use one of their Parliamentary business slots on Wednesday to challenge John Swinney to reverse his decision after he confirmed that free school meals will now not be delivered to Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils by the end of this Holyrood term in 2026.

Shadow education secretary Liam Kerr says John Swinney and the SNP have “shamefully abandoned” Scotland’s poorest pupils and it “flies in the face” of their pledge to eradicate child poverty across the country.

Liam Kerr, left, highlighted that the Scottish Conservatives were the first to commit to the universal rollout of free school meals for primary pupils in September 2020 and have re-iterated this commitment in elections since.

He added that Scotland’s children have been “repeatedly let down” by the SNP’s broken promises and called on fellow MSPs to support the Scottish Conservatives calls for them to deliver this pledge as promised.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liam Kerr MSP said: “John Swinney and the SNP have shamefully abandoned Scotland’s poorest pupils by axing the universal rollout of free school meals in primary schools.

“We are using crucial Parliamentary time this week urging him to reverse that shocking decision. It is another example of how the SNP have repeatedly let down Scotland’s children.

“John Swinney, right, as education secretary personally made this promise to deliver free school meals to every primary school pupil in Scotland. By ditching it, it flies in the face of the SNP’s plans to eradicate child poverty.

“I urge the SNP to do the right thing and deliver this pledge as promised. The Scottish Conservatives have been proud to stand on a similar pledge and continue to do so.

“If the SNP will not u-turn then I call on MSPs from all parties to join the Scottish Conservatives and send the strongest possible message to the SNP in this vote on Wednesday and back the rollout of free school meals for all primary pupils.”