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A group of Sevenoaks mums and their children are planning on showing their anger that their MP, Laura Trott, voted with the Government and against extending the free school meal scheme over the school holidays for families hit by the economic effects of the pandemic.
Determined that no child should go hungry, the families have organised their own collection of staple goods for the town’s foodbank and say that more than 100 people contributed.
They plan to deliver the goods to the Loaves and Fishes foodbank at the St John The Baptist Church this week, and tomorrow, Wednesday, will also lay dozens of empty plates outside Ms Trott’s Conservative Association office in Chevening Road to symbolise the children they fear will go hungry because of the MPs’ decision.
Some of the plates will feature handwritten messages.
Lizzie Hall, one of the organisers of the collection and plate protest, said they would have preferred to line the plates up outside the MP's home, but as that was not in the constituency, it wasn’t practical to do so.
Ms Hall, 32, mum of a five-year old, said: “Seeing our community come together to feed kids is an example of humanity at its best.
"But child hunger in a wealthy nation does not just happen, it’s created. It soared under austerity. It was the government’s decision to cause it and it is their responsibility to fix it."
Ms Hall, a retail worker, added: “Even before this crisis, the UN reported that over 2m people in the UK were severely food insecure.
"Now 4.2 million children are in relative child poverty, and 72% of kids living in poverty are in working households.
"Working is no longer a guaranteed path out of poverty, another disgraceful legacy of austerity.
“So rather than blaming parents, it might be a good idea to start by asking why children are hungry in the first place.
"The three primary reasons for foodbank use are low income, delays and benefit changes - all areas that Laura Trott and her government has the power to address."
'Working is no longer a path out of poverty'
She said: "I'm happy our community is trying to hold our local representatives to account.”
Another mum, Gemma Vosper, 39, said she had to call for help after so many people turned up in Bligh’s car park at the weekend with donations that she could not fit them all in her car.
Ms Trott was one of more than 300 Conservative MPs who voted against free meals for school children over the October half term and Christmas holidays.
Earlier this year, Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford had led a successful campaign that allowed hungry children to have access to free meals during the summer holidays, referring to the troubles that his mother went through when he was a child.
But a motion to have the same initiative extended for the October half-term break and the Christmas holidays was defeated by 322 votes to 261 .
