John, 

Today, we succeeded in our campaign to keep the free and healthy school lunch programme in primary schools. 

Over 47,000 people signed our petition to save school lunches, and thanks to your support, David Seymour has not got the cuts to the programme he campaigned on.

Seymour has now backtracked, confirming that there will be no changes to the programme for years 0-6. But our work is not over, with the Government confirming concerning changes to the way it operates for years 7 and up.

Not only will this see local jobs in our communities go, but it means there will be more waste and less nutrition for intermediate and high school kids. The model will also stigmatise kids who need lunch, because students whose parents can afford to pack them lunch are able to opt-out.

Any savings that might be made are not worth it when we are losing some of the benefits of the programme for intermediate and secondary schools.

Thanks to your support, the school lunches programme will continue – but we need to keep campaigning to ensure the programme is fully funded in intermediate and secondary schools.  

Please sign and share our petition to ensure there are no further cuts and help us save free and healthy school lunches.

With your support, we will keep the pressure on this government to do what's right for our kids.

Thanks, 

Jan Tinetti, Labour’s Education Spokesperson