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Children across the UK have been away from school in the half-term holidays.

It is shameful that many who should be enjoying the break went hungry when away from school.

More than half of National Education Union members ­reported children in their schools ­experiencing holiday hunger.

And that the problem is getting worse.

In my constituency, teachers told me of a child under ten asking to be excused from lessons to go to the toilet – only to be found in the kitchen taking bread because he or she was so hungry.

(Image: BBC)

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This is modern Britain and we have children taking extreme action such as this.

Hunger not only has a negative impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of children, it also impairs learning by reducing children’s ­ability to concentrate.

Children from the poorest ­backgrounds lag at all stages of education. This is not only ­heartbreaking for them but a huge loss to our country of a new “lost generation”.

More than four million children ­living in poverty is a disgrace in modern Britain. With two thirds of ­children growing up in poverty in a working family, the situation is dire.

The fact that work does not provide a guaranteed route out of poverty in the UK in 2019 should sicken us all.

This week the Resolution Foundation has reported that the proportion of children in Britain living in poverty risks hitting a record high as income ­stagnates and benefit cuts continue to bite.

This follows the damning ­description of the situation in the ­country by a UN special rapporteur.

A fifth of the population – 14 million people – live in poverty, 1.5 million are destitute, and various sources predict child poverty rates will rise as high as 40 per cent by 2022.

(Image: Getty Images)

The Tory government has presided over a decade of austerity that has pushed families to the brink and left millions of children growing up in ­poverty. Their dogmatic pursuit of ideological austerity has seen them prioritising tax cuts for the rich while the vulnerable pay the cost.

It is often said that we should judge a society by how it treats its most ­vulnerable members.

By this measure the UK is catastrophically failing.

Labour will put eradicating the scourge of child poverty at the heart of our programme in ­government at the next election.

We’ll make sure children get a healthy hot meal at school, and ensure fairness in work and the benefits system so that no one falls through the cracks.

Quite simply, poverty is a ­political choice and the Labour Party resolve to end it in this country.