Do you believe school meals should be free for all children?

Following a speech made by Prime Minister Liz Truss at the Tory party conference, Jamie Oliver has called for the threshold to be widened for those who qualify for free school meals.

The celebrity chef and restaurateur said he believes that investing in free school meals for children could lead to a better GDP for the country.

At present, the children of parents who are on Universal Credit and have an annual income of no more than £7,400, or are on another benefit such as jobseeker’s allowance, are eligible for free school meals.

Chef Jamie Oliver takes part in a demonstration outside Downing Street in May

Mr Oliver told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If they were to open the threshold of who would be allowed to have a free school lunch, that would also inject funds into the system that would also really help to guarantee a much better service across 26,000 schools in the country.”

During her Tory conference speech in Birmingham last week, Prime Minister Liz Truss railed against those she accused of trying to hold back her pro-growth agenda, stating that she was “not interested in how many two-for-one offers you buy at the supermarket”.

Downing Street later did not rule out that this included Mr Oliver, who has long campaigned against cheap junk food and buy one, get one free deals.

Mr Oliver said: “We have an incredible country but just doing quick trade deals to the lowest common denominator and threatening British farming and British producers is completely bonkers.”

He added: “The reality is, if you speak to the best minds in economics, in the country, in the world, they will tell you that if you output healthier kids, you’re going to have a more productive, more profitable country, better GDP. To do that, you have to think in 10 to 20 years, not three-year cycles.”

“I think if you can create an environment where every child has the ability to thrive at school, we know in every way, shape and form that kids who have a decent lunch and breakfast learn better, their educational attainment is better… but no one has taken it seriously yet.”

Do you agree with Jamie Oliver that the threshold should be widened for free school meals? Or would you go further and give every school child the opportunity to have a free meal? Or do you think this would be going too far?