Tax on US tech giants would cover free school meals for all 1.6 million infants as Treasury mulls cuts

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

The Digital Services Tax would cover the cost of providing free school meals to the more than 1.6 million infant children who receive them, research by the Liberal Democrat has found.

The party said if the Government goes ahead with the cuts while slashing taxes for social media giants it would be “choosing Elon Musk and Donald Trump over hungry school children”.

It comes as the Times has reported that Bridget Phillipson has suggested making free school meals for infants means-tested instead of universal as part of spending review negotiations with the Treasury in a bid to make £500 million of cuts. 

Over the weekend the Chancellor confirmed that the Government was looking at making changes to the Digital Services Tax in a bid to appease the Trump administration during negotiations on tariffs.

The Liberal Democrat research found that the £830 million a year raised by the tax on US tech barons would completely cover the cost of providing universal free school meals for the 1.63 million infants that receive them. A total of 321 million free school meals could be funded through the Digital Services Tax, enough for 1.69 million children.

Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP said:

“Politics is about choices. If the Government goes ahead with cutting this scheme whilst slashing the Digital Services Tax it would be choosing Elon Musk and Donald Trump over hungry school children. It is so disappointing to see this Government putting itself at real risk of losing its moral compass.

“Pupils cannot learn on empty stomachs and we need to be doing everything in our power to ensure that we give children the best opportunities to succeed in school.

“Instead of rowing back on this scheme we need to see Ministers being far more ambitious by extending free school meals to all children in poverty.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The research by the Liberal Democrats can be found here.

The reporting in the Times can be found here.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is set to come to the Lords in the coming weeks, where, if necessary, the Liberal Democrats will table an amendment to the legislation which would ensure that the universal free school meals scheme for infants is maintained in full. The party originally introduced the universal infant free school meals scheme when in Government.

Previous analysis by the Liberal Democrats has suggested that at least 230,000 children eligible for school meals may not be enrolled to receive the benefit. Combined with the Child Poverty Action Group’s estimate that 900,000 children in poverty are not eligible for free school meals, this figure would bring the number of total vulnerable children in England not receiving free lunch to over 1 million.