Does Conservative London mayoral candidate Susan Hall want to ‘cancel’ free school meals? - Full Fact
The Labour party in London made a post on X (previously known as Twitter) last week. They stated that the option for universal free school meals will be included on the ballot paper. The post also accused Susan Hall AM, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, of intending to abolish free school meals.
The London Labour Party's website, 'susanhall.uk', states that Ms. Hall desires to put an end to Sadiq's plan of providing free school meals.
This statement is talking about how City Hall provides money for primary school children in London state schools to receive free meals. This is an addition to what the UK government already offers, which is free meals for students who are in disadvantaged circumstances and attend state schools in England.
Mr Khan initially introduced this plan in February of 2023, stating that it would only apply for the academic year of 2023/24. However, it has been prolonged to also include the academic year of 2024/25.
Being truthful during discussions that happen in public is important.
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Susan Hall's Promises: What's On Her Agenda?
Ms. Hall has promised to maintain free school meals for all students until the conclusion of the upcoming educational session. That implies that this initiative will be available through the summer of 2025, at the bare minimum.
She announced in June of 2023 that she planned to uphold the policy of providing assistance with living expenses for as long as it was necessary. The Conservative party has assured Full Fact that this is still her stance. The manifesto outlines that she intends to keep up with "temporary cost of living support measures," among them being the "universal free school meals program," which ensures kids are provided with healthy and nourishing meals.
To make a comparison, if Mr Khan is elected again, he promises to strive to establish free school meals for all primary school children attending state schools and make it a permanent policy as outlined in his manifesto.
It seems that the main contrast between the stances of the two contenders is that Ms Hall has labeled the policy as a short-term solution to assist with the expenses of daily life and has yet to guarantee that free school meals for all will be maintained, while Mr Khan has pledged to make this provision a permanent fixture.
In previous articles, we have discussed various statements made in the London mayoral race and emphasized that we cannot predict if politicians will follow through on their promises. We believe that it's not possible to verify events that have not yet happened.
Politicians need to be careful and make sure that when they talk about their colleagues they include important details and warnings to keep honesty and accuracy in discussions with the public as high as possible.
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During a recent campaign event, Ms Hall made some comments that Mr Khan has referred to as proof of her intentions to end universal free school meals.
During an event organized by the London Jewish Forum on April 11th, Ms. Hall expressed some skepticism about the policy by mentioning the possibility that "offspring of millionaires" could also take advantage of it.
According to a representative of the Labour party, Sadiq has pledged to keep free school meals accessible for all. In contrast, Susan refuses to endorse this idea and will only finance them until the summer of 2025. This funding will come from the budget that Sadiq had allocated for it, which Susan had opposed to, but the allocation remains valid.
According to Full Fact, the Conservative party stated that Ms Hall discussed how providing free school meals universally may not be the most effective way to allocate funds to those in need. However, they clarified that she has decided to keep the policy in place until the cost of living conditions become better.
It's important to mention that although the Labour image mentions "free school meals," the discussion surrounding this matter is specifically about providing free meals to all primary school children, not just those who need them.
In the event Ms. Hall becomes the chosen candidate, she would have the power to decide when and whether to terminate the London-wide public service, as it is presently backed by the mayoral office. Nevertheless, the UK government's policy in England mandates free school meal provisions to underprivileged children attending primary and secondary state schools.
As mentioned earlier, we have come across this assertion on the Labour campaign website. The website utilizes Susan Hall's name in its web address, which has the potential to mislead voters into thinking that it is linked to or backed by her campaign, when in fact it is associated with the London Labour Party.
We've contacted the Labour party to get their thoughts on this matter and will include any new information in our fact check if they respond.
With just days remaining until an election, political parties should be transparent and truthful in presenting their arguments. This entails taking full responsibility for their campaign materials so that the source is easily recognizable, rather than hiding pertinent information in the fine print.
The Full Fact organization is urging political parties to pledge to follow new guidelines for truthful campaigning practices. These guidelines will improve the quality of political discussions and ultimately contribute to the restoration of severely weakened public confidence in politics. To show your support for this initiative, you can sign up through this link.
The section of the blog will be rephrased using alternative words in simple English: Picture credit to Alamy.
