Marcus Rashford's call for free school meals backed by top Tories as Boris Johnson told to U-turn on decision

Ruth Davidson joins MPs in backing footballer's call to help poor families
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
via REUTERS

Boris Johnson was under huge pressure to make a humiliating U-turn on the Government’s refusal to provide free school meals for needy children over the summer.

Downing Street lost control of the ball as campaigning footballer Marcus Rashford was backed by a string of Conservatives including Theresa May’s former policy chief and the chairman of the education select committee.

The Manchester United forward continued his campaign today with a series of impassioned tweets about the suffering of families in poverty during lockdown, and took on a Cabinet minister who tried to challenge him.

Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey questioned Mr Rashford’s claim that some families had had their water cut off , yet remained silent on other claims, including that children were going hungry.

Marcus Rashford
AFP via Getty Images

Ruth Davidson, the former Conservative leader in Scotland, summed up the mood among Tories when she tweeted: “Am baffled why [Westminster] colleagues are picking this hill to die on.

"Food security during the holidays so important. It’s basic. Feed the kids.”

Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey
PA

A modest rebellion of Tory MPs was expected to increase the embarrassment to the Prime Minister this afternoon.

MPs were voting on a Labour motion to extend a free meals voucher scheme that ran for the Easter holidays right through the summer break.

Mr Rashford galvanised opinion by revealing he used food banks and depended on free meals as a child.

The England star has raised £20million to boost food distribution with the charity FareShare.

Mr Johnson last week announced £63 million of funding to local authorities to help the most vulnerable families, but turned down calls for free meal vouchers to be carried on for the summer.

Yesterday his spokesman rejected Mr Rashford’s plea while saying the PM “understands the issues facing families”.

But Conservative backbenchers challenged No 10’s line today.

Former minister George Freeman, who was Mrs May’s policy adviser, shared an open letter sent to MPs by Mr Rashford and commented: “This is an unprecedented crisis.

“The PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been right to take unprecedented steps to help shield the most vulnerable. Free School Meals are a lifeline for many very low income families.

“Let’s do the right thing: extend Free School Meals through summer.”

Education committee chairman Robert Halfon hailed Mr Rashford as “an inspiration and a hero of our time”.

He told BBC Breakfast he was worried that Britain is facing “an ice age for vulnerable children” because the latest figures show “2.5 million children are not learning” with schools shut and food insecurity has “nearly doubled”.

Extending the free school meals programme “would be the right thing to do”, said the Conservative MP, though he admitted “there are mixed views” among fellow Tories.

In a letter to minister for children Vicky Ford, he demanded what had been done by the Government to assess levels of need over the summer and a guarantee that funds would be available to all and not just those on benefits.

Mr Rashford wrote on Twitter today: “When you wake up this morning and run your shower, take a second to think about parents who have had their water turned off during lockdown.

“When you turn on your kettle to make a cup of tea or coffee think of those parents who have had to default on electricity bill payments just to make ends meet having lost their jobs during the pandemic #maketheuturn. And when you head to the fridge to grab the milk, stop and recognise that parents of at least 200,000 children across the country this morning are waking up to empty shelving.”

Ms Coffey responded: “Water cannot be disconnected though.”

The footballer replied by pointing out she had only dismissed one of his three comments. “I’m concerned this is the only tweet of mine you acknowledged,” he said. “Please, put rivalries aside for a second, and make a difference.”

Ahead of this afternoon’s Commons vote, the footballer issued a rallying cry. “We are trending [on Twitter] no 1 and 2 in England. I need everyone’s help to keep this noise going as I head to training but before I go, to ALL MPs in Parliament, this is not about politics.

“The same way us players put rivalry aside when we put the England shirt on, please #maketheuturn.”

Shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey appealed to ministers on BBC Breakfast to “just continue the free school meal voucher programme” and pointed out to Scotland and Wales have extended theirs.

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