Rugbeians hold demonstration outside Rugby MP's office over free school meals vote

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) and Rugby Labour held a demonstration outside Rugby MP Mark Pawsey's office this afternoon, October 31.

The group formed outside Mr Pawsey's Castle Street office at around 12pm to demonstrate against the government's decision to throw out an attempt to see children who receive free school meals get further support through school holidays.

Mr Pawsey, whose office was shut at the time of the demonsration, was one of the MPs who voted against the motion.

He previously sent a statement to the Advertiser, stating that he and the government are fully committed to supporting children with free school meals, but he did not feel that a voucher system, as proposed in the vote, was the right way to do it.

Click here to read Mr Pawsey's statement in full.

Demonstrators placed paper plates outside Mr Pawsey's office with slogans written on them, including: 'How could you starve a kid to save a quid?' and 'When local businesses step up, faith groups step up, community groups step up, individuals step up - it's time for Mark Pawsey to step down'.

NEU and Rugby Labour member Ben Gladwya works in education, he told the Advertiser: "I'm here because of the ongoing issue of food poverty and in particular because Mark Pawsey voted to stop children getting free school meals over the holidays.

"This is always an issue, but the covid crisis has aggravated the problem.

"I see the realities of this most days. For some children the only meal they get is at school.

"Shame on the government - Mark Pawsey owes the residents of Rugby an explanation."

Emma Mort, Warwickshire NEU district secretary said: "Holiday hunger is a huge problem, if children aren't properly nourished they can't access education.

"We see this in our classrooms, hungry children can't concentrate or learn - and this means there is a widening gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.

"The government say they care about vulnerable children - if they actually cared they would take steps to make sure that vulnerable children have enough to eat.

"They managed to find billions of pounds for their mates to run a failing test and trace system - why can't they find a tiny fraction of that amount to keep vulnerable children fed?"

Rugby resident and Labour candidate for police and crime commissioner Ben Twomey said he is immensely proud of Rugbeians for coming together and helping to feed children, but added that the fact ordinary people were forced to step up is a point of shame for the government.

He added: "As a Rugby resident and someone wanting to represent the people of Warwickshire I can't stand by when children are left to go hungry.

"It's clear that Mark Pawsey has voted with the government and put his party before his people."

Mr Pawsey's office has this evening been approached for comment, but the Advertiser does not expect a response until normal working hours.