Marcus Rashford has vowed to continue fighting in his battle to provide free school meals for vulnerable children during the summer holidays after the Government rejected his appeal yesterday.
The Manchester United and England striker wrote to MPs urging them to reverse the decision not to provide vouchers out of term time, warning that it would mean under-privileged kids going without food. However, the Department of Education confirmed yesterday that the voucher scheme ‘will not run over the summer holidays’. They pointed out the Government has already ploughed £6.5billion into the welfare system in response to the coronavirus pandemic and £63million into a new, local authority welfare assistance scheme.
Rashford, who has already raised £20m with food charity FareShare to provide meals for vulnerable families during lockdown, promised to fight on as he once again urged MPs to reconsider. He tweeted: ‘We aren’t beaten yet, stand strong for the 200,000 children who haven’t had a meal to eat today and keep retweeting #maketheUturn.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give a formal response to Rashford’s letter but his spokesman said: ‘The PM understands the issues facing families across the UK, which is why last week the government announced an additional £63m for local authorities to benefit families who are struggling.’