A plea to ministers to make sure the nation’s children are fed this summer

Editorial: If Conservatives want to avoid being seen as heartless, they must act to show that they have a heart

The Food Foundation has estimated that 2.6 million children in the UK live in households that miss meals or find it difficult to provide food (Getty)

Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, said 10 days ago that “it breaks your heart” to hear of a mother skipping meals to feed her son, as he ruled out expanding free school meals during the summer holidays. If he wonders why the Conservative Party is increasingly being seen as heartless, he and Boris Johnson should pause to reflect.

There is something wrong with this country, and the government has a moral obligation to put it right. Food banks were not an accustomed feature of life in this rich nation until the coalition government. The question of whether children on free school meals would get enough to eat in the school holidays was not a live one until the campaign by Marcus Rashford, the footballer, drew attention to the issue two years ago.

Now, the cost of living crisis has raised the bar of misery, pushing more families into the degrading struggle to ensure that their children are adequately fed. The Food Foundation has estimated that 2.6 million children in the UK live in households that miss meals or find it difficult to provide food.