Amendment attempt fails after ‘leader’ betrays poor children
Keir Starmer last night brought down an attempt in the House of Lords to force the government to provide free school meals for all children from low-income families receiving Universal Credit, by whipping Labour peers to abstain on the amendment.
The motion fell by 108 votes to 51. Of Labour’s 167 peers – more than enough to have pushed through the amendment – only three defied Starmer’s order. In a rambling speech, close Starmer ally Jenny Chapman said the party would support the free school meals plan (amendment 58), but only if the government also supported it.
Hungry children are again the victims of Starmer’s bizarre, cowardly and self-defeating determination to be seen agreeing with the Tories or only disagreeing with them when he wants to go further right still, rather than doing the job of opposing the Tories and fighting for those the Labour party was formed to protect.
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