No child should go hungry. Having a good meal will help children to thrive and make the most of their education.

If children are hungry and cannot learn properly, their chances of success are diminished and their opportunities reduced.

All children deserve to have a full belly when at school. No child should be school hungry - parents do fall on hard times once in a while.

To improve child health and reduce obesity

Having worked in the FE College sector I know how free school meals have a beneficial impact on students' learning.

To make sure that children eat well at this hard times

Good food in the morning is so important.

Poverty shouldn’t exist in UK and the inequality it brings into all aspects of family life is just wrong. All children need to be valued and loved equally and supported to develop to their potential, wherever they come from and whatever their background or circumstance. This is a small step in making things better and happier for every child and thus ultimately for the whole country.

I’m a primary school teacher and mum to 3 teenagers. I see lots of families in the area around our school struggling with the constant requests for money from schools e.g. school uniform, trips, lunches. School meals are incredibly expensive and not value for money. With so many families struggling to provide hot meals at home due to hardship or negligence, free school meals for all would mean that every child can be guaranteed to have access to at least one hot meal a day.

I am now retired, but I was an advanced skills teacher and a county teacher for Norfolk. I have worked in many areas where money was tight and children were hungry. I know first hand the importance of good nutrition and full tummies. I helped establish many breakfast clubs. In one school we took over the kitchens and employed our own chef. Before SATs we all had breakfast together. I have seen how children cope much better in the afternoons when they have had a decent lunch.

A lot of children don't have a breakfast, cost of living is high. Children need a warm belly, ready to learn.

I'm a member of Liverpool Citizens, a chapter of Citizens UK and several schools are with us and are campaigning hard for this. Monksdown Primary School and Holy Cross Roman Catholic Primary School are members of Liverpool Citizens.

As a trainee teacher, I am learning the best ways in which to support a child to learn to the best of their ability. I will not be able to do that if the children in my classroom are hungry and unable to focus. As a parent of primary school children, I also understand the importance of making sure my children are happy and well fed. If schools can take away the burden from those parents so they know their children are not just getting an education but are also sitting in their classroom having had a healthy lunch and so are able to learn effectively, why would we not want to do that?

Every child should have at least one meal a day.

I grew up in poverty myself but was supported by a robust welfare state (1970’s). I achieved a masters degree and want every child to have that same opportunity.

Having worked in a primary school previously, I know there are many families that would be eligible for FSM but don’t apply through ignorance or shame. Offer free school meals to all primary pupils and level the playing field.

There are not enough support workers able to assess every child and every family and not all families want assessed. Just feed the kids (all kids) when they are at school.

Nobody should go hungry in the uk.

Give all children an equal footing and fund healthy food for everyone

Please provide free school meals for every child - this will encourage social cohesion, improve diet and eating habits (and thus the health of children and adults), and improve educational achievement, especially for children in low-income families. These are morally important aims - and also economically sensible.

Children are benefiting from free hot dinners. Healthy, well-nourished children will free-up NHS pressure, because families are healthier and happier - making our entire UK nation thriving healthy and happy.

There are too many benefits to name. I work at a secondary that feeds every student every day, The Urswick school, and have seen the benefits first-hand. We go further in policy than most primaries and ban outside food completely and require every student to eat from the canteen. This helps to ensure correct nutrition and guard against allergies, stops a sugar rush after break and gives the school useful data around students eating in order to offer better support to students. The return on investment for all of these benefits and more will easily pay for the meals we give now and a forward facing government that wants to invest in our future has no better option.

Look at the example of other countries where a free school meal is a standard part of school life. The benefits are numerous and it makes economic sense in the long term.

Because it is not just children whose families receive benefits who face lunch/health poverty. Many parents are working long hours or more than one job in order to provide for their children. A home cooked meal is not always possible. As a teacher, I see the remarkable difference a healthy diet can make to a child's enjoyment of their day, and their ability to learn. I believe a free school meal should be available to every child, regardless of their social or economic status.

I remember when I was teaching that some children came having had a cooked evening meal and breakfast and some not and what a difference that made. Free school meals would help each child reach their potential, and give them better health, so that each child could be able to concentrate on learning.

All schools within the country should be able to provide the same nutrition, we are surrounded by countries that understand how important the school years are and how important eating well is and how this aids concentration within classrooms. If you as a minister miss a meal or have a poor lunch, you understand how that can affect the rest of your day. A hungry or poorly fed child will not function at their best and could be a distraction to the rest of the class. It's not just about providing a meal, but the nutritionally correct meal for every child.

I am a single struggling mum, my child gets a free school meal at the moment but next year that all changes and I am so worried about this. I am struggling beyond belief but knowing my child gets one free, hot meal a day is an absolute weight off. I am begging the government to please provide the free school meals for all school children and lift this pressure for so many struggling families. Please help.

Every child deserves a free hot and healthy school meal as many children don't get a hot meal at all at home.

There is no difference between a hungry child in years R, 1 and 2 and those in years 3, 4 and 5!

Free school meals are a perfect symbol for what the purpose and concerns of this government should be - assisting with cost of living now, while ensuring a brighter future for the nation as a whole

Because average working class parents struggle to pay for a warm meal for their children. It’s hard that such children have to miss out.

You have no idea what it is like to live in the real world the struggles families face every single day. Because if you did you would take this one pressure struggle off of all families.

Do the right thing!

Healthy warm nutritious food for every child!

Healthy food is a right for all young people.

It’s a way of providing equal opportunities. If all children had a good meal in their stomach, they would have somewhat equal energy and concentration for learning at school and retain information better.

So many families are struggling to cope as everything is expensive and getting more expensive sadly - wages not increasing at the same rate, I know I haven't got a raise in over 3 years and doesn't look like anything happening soon either.

Children can't learn if they're hungry.

Take pressure off working families.

It’s a disgrace that children in Britain still go to school hungry. They can’t help the family they were born into, the income of their parents, how many siblings they have etc. Children should be well fed. It’s the most fundamental right. What possible argument could you give against it?

We are a working family who are not entitled to free school meals. We find the expense of school meals for our 3 children really high, and we struggle month to month to pay for our outgoings.

I was neglected and often hungry at school.

Children shouldnt have to go hungry at school when they have limited means at home

Children need to be fed properly to learn to their capacity

The staff can be assured that every child has had a good meal 5 days a week, regardless of their home circumstances. Let's do it!

I work in a secondary school in a deprived area. Lots of pupils are on FSM, however we have a cohort of pupils who are not entitled to FSM but do not eat as their families do not have enough money to pay for their lunches. It breaks my heart watching them at lunchtime waiting for friends to give them food or even resorting to stealing from the canteen.

If children have a healthy meal each day, they learn better, focus more on lessons and are more settled in their learning.

I was brought up in a poor household. Without school meals I don't think me or my siblings would have been able to manage at school.

Some children may not get a meal at home or breakfast before they start school. Its not right: children should suffer or go without food.

Put children first. Use your power to ease poverty. Tell voters they should consider it a moral duty to care about every child. Educate our children as much as possible. Let’s make our country child friendly! Don’t be ashamed to stand up for a kinder society.

I believe that free school meals should be rolled out for all children, primary and secondary, across the UK. It is only right that all children are given a healthy start.

A hot school meal was my main meal when I was younger and no child in this day should go hungry. Families are struggling to put meals on the table and the government should be helping them by providing a lunch free to all school children irrespective of age, especially in the younger years.

Many parents are working hard to provide for their families and this would ease the pressure a little.

To make sure all children have a warm meal.

Many families on low income are struggling to feed their children with a balanced diet everyday as they go to school. This is having a huge negative impact on both parents and their children psychologically. This goes a long way to affect the children's total well-being and level of concentration while at school.

This is a great campaign - a life saver to those parents struggling with the cost of living. It should be echoed all over the UK.

No child should be left out. Free school meals for all kids.

We all know that healthy eating is vital, especially so for growing children. Free school meals guarantee that all children have a chance to grow, and to learn.

It is a necessary step to creating a fair and equitable society. All children should have the right to freedom from hunger, and we must ensure that school meals are free for everyone to protect and nurture our children.

Because no child should go hungry. Every child should be able to have a free school meal - it will help the child to not only grow, but also learn better from having a healthy free school meal that suits all kids.

The Prime Minister should please give priority to this suggestion, because it will aid the children's learning.

I am a single mum, I don’t get paid much from work. I feel like my top up of universal credit goes on school meals instead of balancing the bills.

Most children who do not qualify for free meals bring packed lunches. These are usually less nutritious than the cooked meals, and lead to children comparing and competing. Children who receive free meals are easily identified and feel self-conscious. I am very keen for my grandson's whole class to sit down to the same hot meal, developing a feeling of community, social skills and healthy eating habits!

I am 79 years old and, when I was at school, many families were struggling after the war. I was fortunate, my father came home but I still remember other children who came to school without having breakfast and some with no dinner either. Many of these children fell behind their classmates.

Where families have children in different schools, they all dont have the same school meal options, so not all the children within the family are eating as well outside of the home and the families are not able too make up the difference.

Providing universal free hot school lunches to all primary school children across the UK is a vital investment in education, equality, and long-term public health. Restricting meals to infants or means-testing benefits causes hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty to slip through the cracks while reinforcing a harmful social stigma in the school dinner hall. Child welfare advocates like the Child Poverty Action Group and The Food Foundation emphasise that a hot, nutritious lunch shouldn't be treated as a luxury. It directly boosts classroom concentration, improves behavior, and saves struggling families up to £450 a year per child. Since children are legally required to be at school, ensuring every single one of them is nourished and ready to learn is simply common sense.

Every child in England in fact all over the world should not be left out from having a FREE SCHOOL MEAL. This is very important. The government need to realize this

I had free school diners at school . Never bullied but since have heard some have. Hungry and bullied . No child should have to face this

I need Free School Meals because I can't afford the cost of school dinners.

All children should get free school meals no matter what the age the race the eligibility each child is equal

How can we ignore the fact that there are still young people going to school hungry. We know this after to their ability to concentrate well enough to be educated. We cannot ignore that many children in the country are living below the poverty line.

When my children were at school and I also had foster children, we were apparently too rich to qualify for school meals. Yet my wage would not stretch to buying the meals for them all. My children were the outsiders, often embarrassed by homemade sandwiches, sometimes throwing the food away. Providing all school children with a meal would remove stigma and embarrassment and give children the opportunity of improved diet and learning skills. The cost to our children's futures, and the future of our next generation of workers, is far greater whilst so few qualify for midday nourishment, than the cash cost of providing a healthy meal now

I fully support making sure no child goes hungry, but I don’t think working families should be penalised for earning just above the eligibility threshold. Many parents work full-time, pay for childcare, school meals and all their other household costs, yet can end up with less disposable income than families who qualify for additional support. Free school meals should be available to every primary school child, regardless of their parents’ income. It would be fairer, remove stigma and actually support the families who are working hard but still struggling with the cost of living.

Every child should be entitled to a good warm healthy dinner.

Look what happens to hungry children: they start stealing to get food and are always angry because they are hungry. It was free when I was a child, and so was milk. What's happened? Is this country worse off now? Definitely not.

I was born in Zimbabwe. Although poor, we, my brother and sister, never ever went hungry. In this day and age no child should ever go hungry! No child!

These children are our country’s future. They deserve better. If children in London can have a free lunch why can’t children in Leeds, my home city, benefit in the same way?

All children deserve a midday meal to keep them fit and healthy and enable them to reach their full potential during their formative years.

I see it as a positive contribution to the education of our children, and this will go a long way in supporting, and aiding their learning and concentration.

Prime Minister invest in the generation ahead or this country will end up crumbling down. Don't leave any child behind.

Keep free breakfast clubs going my kids love it when sitting next to friends chatting away, eating a good nutritious breakfast.

FSM for all pupils. Go and watch lunchtime in a school where the pupils are scrounging food from others as their families can’t afford to feed them.

I believe the children are our future, treat them well, and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty that exists inside of them, and let the children's laughter remind us how it used to be!

I am a practising Registered Nurse of over 40 years. During my 20 years working in the NHS, I have first-hand experience treating/caring for children who have suffered child poverty: malnourished, suffering various physical conditions and mental health issues. Hence this is very close to my heart.

Because all children around the world deserve a warm and healthy meal while they are learning at school. Imagine trying to learn your lessons while your tummy is rumbling - it stops the child being able to concentrate. It's wrong and in today's society no child should be hungry at all.

Feed every child free school meals. We should protect the children they're our future and need healthy meals to support their health and learning.

Misfed children will not concentrate or remember what they have done or been taught. The current generation is used to living on pre-made/convenience/fast food with no nutritional value.

Because unconditional and universal help is the best type of help and it’s not divisive. There are no barriers to access Free School Meals for every child. Free School Meals help the individual children and their families and also the whole school!

Make welfare universal like healthcare & education up to 18.

It’s obvious that no child can work and play to their top potential if they go to school hungry. To offer every single child a free school meal would be such a huge gesture from Labour, telling our population that Labour really understands and cares.

No matter how rich or how poor a child’s family is. Free school meals to every child is the only guarantee they will have 1 hot meal every school day.

I know from first hand experience what it is like to go hungry from time to time as a child. I’m 79 now and still remember hard times. I’ve worked hard, I’m lucky to be comfortable now. But it hurts me to think that in a country like ours with such prosperity children are not cherished by our society in the way they should be. It makes good sense to look after the ones who will run things one day.

I taught for 40 years in schools in deprived areas. Eating good food together improves behaviour throughout the day.

I have seen how a child with a full belly can improve their learning at school.

Children in this day and age should not go hungry. If a child is hungry they are not going to be able to focus on their learning properly and will have limited options for their future.

I have 3 daughters. 1 in year 4 which I pay for school meals, 1 in year 2 who gets hers free and 1 with a childminder who gets hers free. It costs £1.80 per day for my daughters lunch. When that is times 2 next year, it will cost me £3.60 per day, or £18 per week for the lunch at school. They sometimes have packed lunch, but prefer to eat dinner with their friends. I am on a minimum wage job, and to be paying almost £20 a week next year, will equate to almost half a weeks wage for me, just for their school lunches.

The pressure of families not being able to go to work or worrying about their hungry children should be a pressure that doesn't exist.

I was a business manger in a socially deprived school at one time being in the bottom 9% in the country. I worked closely with Kellogg to give every child in school a free breakfast. During the school holidays we also provided breakfast and hot lunch for our most deprived pupils.

No child should be left behind.

Every child deserves a proper meal at school no matter the background.