Chris Softley

In 1946 the British government introduced free school milk for every child in the country. One third of a pint, every school day, from the age of five to the age of fifteen. The milk was whole. Full-fat. From British dairy herds. It was delivered to the school gate in small glass bottles with foil caps and left on the doorstep in metal crates, where it sat in the sun until morning break if the weather was warm and developed a slightly suspect taste that an entire generation of British adults can still describe with uncomfortable precision. The generation that grew up on school milk was, by every anthropometric measure, the healthiest generation of British children ever recorded. Average height increased. Bone density improved. Dental health, despite the sugar in everything else, improved. Iron deficiency rates among school-age children dropped. The growth charts that the Ministry of Health had been keeping since the war showed a consistent, measurable, year-on-year improvement that tracked precisely onto the introduction of the milk programme. In 1971 Margaret Thatcher, then Education Secretary, cut free school milk for children over seven. The tabloids called her Thatcher the Milk Snatcher. She was vilified. She kept the policy. The next generation of British children, the ones who grew up without the daily third of a pint, were measurably less healthy than the one before. The growth charts show it. The dental records show it. The conscription medicals, while they lasted, showed it. The thing the milk had been providing, the calcium, the vitamin D, the vitamin A, the complete amino acid profile, the conjugated linoleic acid, the fat-soluble nutrients that a growing skeleton requires in order to reach its genetic potential, was no longer arriving at morning break in a glass bottle with a foil cap. It was replaced, eventually, by nothing. Or by a carton of fruit juice. Or by a packet of crisps from the vending machine that appeared in the school corridor in the 1990s. The generation that drank the milk is now in its seventies and eighties. They are, on average, taller, stronger-boned, and longer-lived than the generation that came after them. The milk was not magic. The milk was milk. It was the thing the body needed, delivered at the time the body needed it, at a cost the government considered acceptable until it didn't. The cost of not providing it has been rather higher.

Peter Mandelson’s appointment was a political one and FCDO knew that Keir Starmer/ Morgan McSweeney wanted it to happen even though the due diligence process had raised red flags. Olly Robbins’ response to this question gives, I think, an insight into why he overruled the security vetting decision: “The PM took advice and took a view himself and we then acted on that view”. What it doesn’t explain is why he didn’t flag security concerns over Britain’s top diplomatic appointee with No 10 - or if he told officials why they didn’t share with the political side of operation.

It’s good news that the Strait of Hormuz has now reopened. This must be a long lasting and workable solution, without tolls or restrictions on routes. Today we announced our joint plan with France and other international partners to protect freedom of navigation. We need to see a return to peace and stability, and a permanent ceasefire.

It’s good news that the Strait of Hormuz has now reopened. This must be a long lasting and workable solution, without tolls or restrictions on routes. Today we announced our joint plan with France and other international partners to protect freedom of navigation. We need to see a return to peace and stability, and a permanent ceasefire.

There were more than 400 asylum hotels under the previous government – that number has been more than halved, with 11 more closing this week. Labour is bringing the asylum system under control.