This week brought really welcome news for parents in Chipping Barnet, and yet more evidence of this Labour government delivering on our Plan for Change. 

The government has chosen Ashmole Primary School as one of the first to offer free, daily breakfast clubs as part of our landmark scheme that will ensure children are school-ready and parents are better off. 

By taking tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy at the Budget, we were able to protect key education priorities and triple investment in breakfast clubs. 

Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has legislated the creation these clubs and put a cap on the number of branded uniform items schools can require. The Bill will save some families over £500 per child, per year. 

That comes alongside the government’s childcare expansion, providing 30 free hours of early years education from September. The measures show Labour is focused on supporting working parents. 

The breakfast club at Ashmole Primary School, set to open in April, is a testament to the school and the Labour government’s dedication to improving children’s attendance, attainment, wellbeing, behaviour and readiness for school. 

Evidence shows that breakfast clubs can boost children’s reading, writing, and maths attainment by an average of two months’ additional progress. 

At the same time, the club will save local families on the cost of sending children to school while providing a valuable source of childcare for working parents at the beginning of the day. 

Taken together, Labour’s breakfast clubs will boost parents’ work choices and children’s life chances. 

That’s why it’s such a shame that under the Tories, these clubs were available in just one in ten primary schools. Labour will make them available for all our children. 

There’s another important element to this policy: it will help Labour bear down on the levels of child poverty that were left far too high by the Conservatives. 

I believe that children growing up in Chipping Barnet deserve the best start in life, nothing less. That’s why I’m backing this measure. 

Labour’s mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child so where you’re from, doesn’t determine where you end up and that if you work hard, you can get on in life. 

I know those are principles local people hold dearly, I know that’s what these clubs will help make a reality.