Godalming's MP, Jeremy Hunt, has defended his decision to vote against a motion to extend free school meals for children until Easter.

Mr Hunt was one of the 322 MPs who voted down a Labour motion seeking to extend free school meal provision across school holidays. The vote came in the wake of a campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford to extend provision.

Godalming Nub News asked Mr Hunt for his view on the issue. Here is his response.

"In a civilised country no child should go hungry. That goes to the core of my beliefs as a Conservative - which is why I support generous welfare provision - including our fantastic NHS - alongside building an economy that can pay for it.

It is the latter, incidentally, that has always been the main dividing line in British politics: no party has a monopoly on compassion, but our political parties have very different track records when it comes to economic management.

So why then did I vote against the Labour motion in the House of Commons last week on free school meals?

Because the way we support families in difficulty is not by food vouchers but through cash grants dispensed through Universal Credit. This controversial reform was brought in by the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition to simplify a very complex system. Because it is fully computerised it handled an additional three million claimants during the pandemic remarkably smoothly, something that would not have been possible with the earlier system. Overall, the additional funding made available through our benefits system to help poorer families get through hard times is an extraordinary £9 billion - more than £300 for every household in the country. Such an approach is hardly the actions of the hard-hearted Conservative party but instead those of a government totally and utterly committed to helping the country get through a very difficult period. Indeed, it wasn't just welfare benefits - the furlough scheme to help businesses was one of the most generous of its kind anywhere in the Western world and the Chancellor increased support for businesses, including the self-employed, even more last week. But can we do even more? We should always be open to additional ways we can help families in difficulty. We funded free school meals over the summer break and if we end up with a similar lockdown over the Christmas holidays, I would expect the government to look at the issue with equivalent generosity."