In his latest column on Biddulph Nub News, Cllr Connor Brady has discussed the concerning images of free school meals that hit the headlines recently. Read his thoughts below.

These disgraceful pictures of "school meals" being given to children during lockdown has happened because of the logic of privatisation and outsourcing and shows the disturbingly cruel society that we are living in.

Thanks to Marcus Rashford's pressure on the government, they finally agreed to provide meals during the holidays, providing hampers which are supposed to be worth £30. As we have seen they are a disgusting joke to parents and children who are going hungry.

As you would have expected, the companies who are serving these packages which include tuna in a milkshake cup and half a bell pepper, have links to the Conservative party with the recent chairman of a company a Tory donor.

What is astonishing is that this government, after being dragged kicking and screaming just to commit to feed the poorest children in this country, decided to outsource packages to a private company rather than using local businesses to support this.

For a large proportion of parents, a £30 voucher for food is infinitely better than a package. For those who need a package surely it makes more sense to use local businesses, which are struggling during Covid, to source their produce for packages rather than a private company which is taking all of the money and providing nothing.

Half a bell pepper, a bit of carrot, and an apple to last a child a week is disgusting, nowhere near the £30 that we as taxpayers are paying for it.

What we have seen with these packages isn't a mistake, it isn't an oversight, and it's not an isolated incident. This has happened because of the logic of privatisation that we are seeing all across the country.

Vital public goods and services being outsourced to private corporations to make a profit is simply leading to chaotic and shambolic situations where we, regular people, are suffering, whilst those at the top of these businesses go running to the bank.

Look at Serco's track and trace which has been an absolute disaster and has meant that we are nowhere near close to getting Covid under control, all whilst Serco record a £165m profit. T

Then there was the collapse of Carillion where more than 3,000 jobs were lost and the building of hospitals and schools were plunged into crisis, all whilst the bosses shared in £4million bonuses.

What we have seen with these pictures is the reality of Britain with outsourcing, with privatisation, with an establishment which doesn't care about the suffering of everyday people. We are one of the richest countries on earth, but have been unable to deal with Covid as well as places like New Zealand and South Korea, unable to feed hungry children, unable to provide a better country to live in.

The Conservative Government deciding not to provide free school meals in February will once again need Marcus Rashford to come in and ensure children don't go hungry, but this is just another wound from a Government which is increasingly cruel and unable to deal with the crises facing our country.

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