Marcus Rashford has vowed to “keep taking steps forward” after his campaign to extend the children’s food voucher scheme into the summer holidays led to a Government U-turn.
Rashford wrote an open letter to MPs this week urging the Government to reverse its decision not to award free school meals vouchers in England – for which nearly 1.3 million children are eligible – outside of term time.
The Manchester United and England forward followed that up with an impassioned article in The Times on Tuesday, detailing his experience of growing up using food banks and receiving free meals as a child.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey responded: “Water cannot be disconnected though.”
The Minister was widely criticised and Rashford replied: “I’m concerned this is the only tweet of mine you acknowledged. Please, put rivalries aside for a second, and make a difference.”
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: I think it’s fantastic. Congratulations to Marcus for his perseverance. The way he has gone about it has clearly moved Government to a really important and heart-moving cause,” he said.
