It is as Cockney as a Pearly Queen in a three-wheeler Del Boy van.

Now an Essex MP is to lead a parliamentary debate calling for traditional pie ‘n’ mash with liquor to get protected status, like champagne and Cornish Pasties.

Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, said the dish was “part of that Cockney diaspora”, describing it as “the original fast food”.

Andy Green, who founded the Modern Cockney Festival, said obtaining the status “may kickstart a fresh look from government agencies and public bodies to recognise the tradition and culture that pie ‘n’ mash represents”.

Campaigners want the dish – mashed potato with minced beef pie and lashings of parsley sauce known as liquor – to be given Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status by the government.

Mr Holden will lead the debate in Westminster Hall at 16:00 BST on Tuesday to stop producers claiming it – but with a different recipe.

Mr Holden said: “With British staples like Cornish Pasties, Bramley Apple Pies and Melton Mowbray Pork Pies already enjoying protection, it’s now time we protect this important dish to be recognised and celebrated, as it is enjoyed by families for decades to come.”

The TSG status is defined by the specificity and traditional element of the dish and decision makers will need to see a recipe agreed.

Almost 30 years ago there were 60 pie ‘n’ mash shops across London, but there was barely a third of that total left by 2020.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mr Green said there was “a narrative that pie ‘n’ mash shops are closing and maybe pie ‘n’ mash is dying” but, he added, “the reality is it’s evolving”.

“Listed traditional food status would give a mark, a statement that despite rumours of its death, pie ‘n’ mash is very much alive and thriving,” he said.

Mr Green said its Cockney identity had spread further than the traditional areas of east and south London, marked by the spread of pie ‘n’ and mash shops, from Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire to Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

He said some shops were “evolving” with the times by offering vegetarian options and delivery services.

The iconic dish which has become synonymous with Cockney culture is thought to date back to the 1840s.

Traditionally, it consisted of a savoury pie filled with minced beef, served with mashed potatoes and a parsley liquor.

But for anyone feeling adventurous, pie ‘n’ mash can also be served with stewed jellied eels – another Cockney favourite.

Those who love it, like the Cockney Modern Festival organisers, say it is an artisan food with recipes handed down throughout generations “like precious family heirlooms”.

Mr Holden said he has written to more than 40 MPs who have a pie ‘n’ mash shop in their constituency, adding: “It’s part of a campaign to celebrate and really promote pie and mash, which has spread out from its beginnings in central and east London, down the Thames Gateway and out into the world.”

He told PA Media: “We’re wanting to celebrate it and I’ve got a couple of pie and mash shops in my part of the Basildon new town.

“I’ve got Stacey’s Pie and Mash and Robins Pie and Mash. Robins is part of a small chain run by a family right across Essex and east London.”

Famous fans of the hearty meal include David Beckham, actor Danny Dyer, and comedians Arthur Smith and Rob Beckett.

The dish has also been immortalised in EastEnders, with Beale’s Eels Pie & Mash House.

Mr Holden said the dish had been enjoyed by families for nearly 200 years.

He said: “It’s part of that Cockney diaspora – particularly for places like Basildon, where you’ve seen all that new build town… people moving out there from the East End and taking some of those traditions with them.

“It’s great to promote a high quality product… it’s the original fast food.”

Daniel Zeichner, Labour’s environment minister, said officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had been involved in discussions.

“They are clear that an application for TSG status requires agreement on the recipe that producers would need to follow to use the name in future,” he said.

“They also understand that all those wishing to use the name would need periodic verification of their practices.”

He said once a formal application had been submitted, a full assessment could then be made.

Thousands more children from England’s poorest households are eating a free school meal because of a new trial scheme.

The pilot project, run by the Fix Our Food research programme and involving dozens of councils, is identifying previously unregistered eligible children and automatically enrolling them.

Families who qualify for free school meals usually have to register their children to get a meal, even if they meet the criteria.

The Department for Education has encouraged all eligible families who are not automatically enrolled to register.

The total number of children registered for free school meals in England is about 2.1 million, or 24.6% of the total pupil population.

Some families do not sign up for free school meals they are entitled to because of language barriers, not understanding the eligibility criteria or because of a stigma around sharing financial information.

In England, families are eligible to apply for free school meals if they are on universal credit and have a household income below £7,400 per year, after tax.

One estimate, by thinktank Policy in Practice, suggests there could be an additional 470,000 families who meet the free school meal criteria but are not registered.

Sixth former Mirzan, from north London, has been registered for free school meals since he started Year 7.

Having previously missed meals himself, he says he worries about what unregistered children are eating at school.

“Someone I knew in school, the only meal they’d receive that day would be their free school meal. So I know what impact it has,” he says.

“Instead of sitting there looking at the board trying to solve the algebra problem, you’re sitting thinking, ‘when I get home, what am I going to eat?’.”

Researchers from Fix Our Food, a programme based in York, say they want the government to automatically enrol families who are missing out nationwide, by allowing them to opt out instead of having to opt in.

They say it saves families £500 per year in lunch costs.

Fix Our Food has helped about 20 local authorities implement the trial scheme so far.

About 20,000 eligible children who were previously missing out have been enrolled, according to surveys looking at the scheme’s impact, says Myles Bremner from the project.

An additional 40 councils are working with Fix Our Food to look at whether they could also implement the scheme, he says.

Councils already taking part include:

• County Durham, registering an additional 1,700 children
• Wakefield, registering an additional 1,200 children
• Lambeth, registering an additional 900 children
• North Yorkshire, registering an additional 700 children
• Middlesbrough, registering an additional 600 children

The additional registrations have also brought in millions of pounds in vital extra funding for schools via pupil premium grants, according to Fix Our Food.

Schools get £1,455 per primary pupil on free school meals or £1,035 per secondary pupil on free school meals, per year, for at least six years.

Marvin Charles, head teacher at City Heights E-Act Secondary Academy in Lambeth, south London, says he uses the additional funding for residential trips or extra tuition and mentoring.

More than half of his pupils were already registered for free school meals – more than double the national average – but the automatic enrolment scheme found 15 more who met the criteria but had not been receiving them.

But the scheme requires a lot of paperwork and digging through data for the councils who implement it to establish which families are eligible.

Fix Our Food says it wants the government to bring together datasets from different government departments to make the process quicker and easier.

MPs could soon be debating the issue in parliament, after it was introduced via a private members’ bill on 16 October.

The government says it is looking at long-term solutions to child poverty but has not committed to rolling out the scheme nationwide.

A spokesperson said one of the first priorities was providing free breakfast clubs in primary schools, which is expected to roll out to the first 750 schools in April 2025.

All children in England get a free school meal up to Year 2.

In Wales and in London, all primary school children automatically get a free school meal but eligible secondary pupils still have to apply.

In Scotland, all pupils up to P5, the equivalent of England’s Year 4, get a free school meal.

Families are eligible for free school meals after that point if they are on universal credit and earn less than £796 per month, or around £9,500 per year.

In Northern Ireland, the threshold is £15,000 per year, after tax.