An adviser to Andy Burnham has backed a proposal for new state-run restaurants across Britain to provide free meals to families as part of a taxpayer-funded National Food Service.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley has endorsed University College London’s radical National Food Service plan for Government-run eateries.
They would provide complimentary meals to families grappling with the cost of living.
Lord O’Neill put his name to a letter supporting the scheme, which forms part of UCL’s Prosperity 2030 report.
The document also calls for measures aimed at tackling Britain’s tax burden and improving public services through a series of major reforms.
The peer is among a group of economists advising Mr Burnham as the Greater Manchester Mayor positions himself for a future leadership bid.
Mr Burnham has previously pledged to “rewire” Britain and “break with the more-of-the-same approach that has got us here”.
The centrepiece of the proposal would be a network of around 9,500 Community Food Centres, which the report describes as the “backbone” of the National Food Service.
Andy Burnham adviser backs state-run restaurants serving free meals across Britain
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GETTYEach centre would provide nutritious meals to local residents free at the point of use.
Taxpayers would fund the scheme, with the report estimating adult meals would cost £2.50 and children’s meals would cost £2.
High street chains could also take part in the programme.
Greggs and Wetherspoons are among the businesses identified as potential partners that could receive Government subsidies to provide a complimentary “NFS Meal of the Day” to customers.
The proposal also includes universal free school meals for all primary school pupils
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According to the report, access to meals would be “universal, free at point of use, for all residents and citizens with Digital ID, with no means-testing or eligibility criteria”.
The National Food Service is one of six universal services proposed in the Prosperity 2030 blueprint, with each designed to provide what the authors describe as “the essentials of modern life”.
A Universal Transport Service would make bus travel free and would be funded by tripling air passenger duty while doubling the frequency of services.
The report also proposes abolishing the BBC licence fee, with the broadcaster instead funded through general taxation under a Universal Information Service.
Further proposals include guaranteed basic access to digital connectivity, energy and water supplies.
A Community Food Centre network would be around twice the size of the British Restaurants’ communal kitchens established during the Second World War.
It estimates the full package of reforms would require an additional £101billion a year in taxpayer funding through a simplified levy system.
The Prosperity 2030 report describes Britain as “an example of a developed nation with increasing social and democratic instability, fragile infrastructure, and blocked fiscal manoeuvrability”.
Its proposed tax reforms would merge income tax, National Insurance, capital gains tax, dividend tax and inheritance tax into a single levy called National Contributions.
It estimates that eight pounds in every 10 raised under the new system would come from people earning above-average incomes.
However, not all organisations linked to Mr Burnham have backed the same approach to economic policy.
The Institute for Public Policy Research, a think tank with Labour links, has separately called for the introduction of a £5million investor visa.
The IPPR said such a scheme could generate £900million for the economy and create 4,000 jobs by reversing the departure of wealthy entrepreneurs following Rachel Reeves’ 2024 Budget.