I visited Iqra Primary with Deputy Mayor Joanne McCartney to tour the school’s new state-of-the-art kitchen and discuss the impact of free school meal provision. When I first visited in 2021, one of the school’s buildings was in serious disrepair. We wrote to the Education Secretary to highlight this situation at the time. Subsequently, the school received government funding for renovation work. It is great to see the kids reaping the rewards of this now, eating and learning in a better environment.

Thanks to our Labour Mayor, Primary school pupils in Clapham & Brixton Hill have long been enjoying a free nutritious lunch. Thanks to our Labour government, many will now enjoy a free nutritious breakfast too. I was pleased by the government’s announcement of the rollout to a further 2,000 breakfast clubs in primary schools to 500,000 kids. I am currently talking to local schools like Iqra to encourage take up and provide assistance with any applications.

We must keep working to extend free school meals nationwide as an investment in every child’s future. When children eat well, they learn well. It was great to hear about the positive impact that free school lunches continue to have at Iqra: improving attainment, attendance and behaviour and contributing to a more cohesive school culture. Hopefully soon there will be a free breakfast club in place as well.