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The Campaign for Socialism calls on all Labour MSPs and in particular
members of the CfS to support the School Meals (Scotland) Bill on Thursday
20th June.
The CfS believes that the arguments in favour of the Bill are overwhelming.
All of the evidence supports the position that a nutritious midday meal
for every school pupil is vital to improving the long term health of all
Scottish people. In particular it will help reduce rates of coronary heart
disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes.
We understand that some Labour MSPs have concerns about the cost and about
the complexities that the Bill is trying to address. However, there is
surely room for amendments to be made to address some of these issues.
For example, implementation could be staged and pilots could be used to
test uptake.
Elaine Smith MSP an executive member of CfS said:
'One of the main arguments by Labour politicians for not supporting free
school meals is that it would mean feeding rich kids. Some who consider
themselves to be left wing hold this view. Few children are wealthy in
their own right — even coming from a rich family is no guarantee
of nutritional meals. Taking this argument to its logical conclusion would
mean an end to universal benefits, state education, the NHS and many local
authority services.'
Contact: Vince Mills CfS Secretary on 0781 461 5224 / Elaine Smith MSP
on 0131 34 8582
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