LAST week, MPs voted against plans to extend free school meals over the holidays until Easter next year.

For Warrington, it was very much a tale of one town and two MPs from different parties on opposite sides of the debate.

Conservative MPs including Warrington South’s Andy Carter have come under fire for backing the Government in opposing the plans.

Meanwhile, Warrington North’s Labour MP Charlotte Nichols has said that those MPs who voted with the Government ‘should hang their heads in shame’.

But are the Labour Party really the good guys here?

Had last year’s General Election been held under a system of Proportional Representation, the balance of parliament would have been very different, and any vote on extending free school meals would have gone the other way.

The UK has been governed by the Conservative Party for about two thirds of the past century, under the First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system.

Over that period, Labour has either chosen to do nothing about scrapping FPTP, or renege on an electoral reform promise (in the case of Tony Blair).

The Labour Party does have the power to enact electoral reform, through working with other parties.

Does Charlotte Nichols recognise Labour’s historic mistake?

I am a south constituent, and am unable to directly contact Ms Nicholls to gauge her position.

Therefore, Warrington North constituents should do just that.

I am not saying that proportional representation will benefit any particular party more than any other in the long run.

However, reforming our electoral system is essential to break the electoral cycles we have become so accustomed to.

ANDY WATSON Bewsey