Tory MPs have voted down a motion that would have seen free school meals continue to be given to the UK's poorest children during the Summer holidays until Easter 2021.
The government had previously backed down on plans to cut support during the Summer after a campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford.
Data from the Food Foundation quoted in the Independent shows that 6.3% of children in the UK are worried about going hungry during the holidays.
A decade of austerity policies imposed by a Tory government have had a devastating impact on families, the pandemic has only made things worse.
Research carried out by Save The Children found that 38% of the families who took part were worse off than they were six months ago, out of these 27% said they were struggling to afford food.
In their report A Winter Plan for Children: Why Families on Low Incomes Shouldn't Be Left Out in the Cold they set out a plan for feeding the UK's poorest children, as part of this they call for the extension of free school meals during the holidays.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken a dog in the manger attitude, refusing to consider changing his mind and imposed a three-line whip on Conservative MPs ordering them to vote for the policy.
All three MPs representing Stoke-on-Trent obeyed this instruction, despite ours being the thirteenth most deprived city in the country.
Having enough to eat is vital to healthy physical and mental development, by refusing to provide free school meals during the holidays to children who need them the government risks doing them lasting harm.
That is why this winter we will be working with local charities and community groups to ensure local families that are struggling get enough to eat.
We will also be challenging our local parliamentary representatives for putting the demands of their party leadership ahead of the needs of local people.