Marcus Rashford fights on after Boris Johnson rejects plea for U-turn over holiday school meal vouchers 

No 10 is unmoved by Manchester United forward's plea despite cross-party support for proposal

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The Government has rejected Marcus Rashford's plea to extend free school meal vouchers over the summer, despite a groundswell of support for the footballer from senior politicians.

The Manchester United and England striker was praised as an "inspiration" for writing a letter urging authorities to make a U-turn and allow vulnerable children who have been getting free meals to continue receiving them out of term time.

Rashford, 22, said "the system isn't built for families like mine to succeed" as he added his voice to a campaign which could prompt legal action against the Government.

However, Boris Johnson appears resistant to changing the policy, having already announced a new £63 million local authority welfare assistance scheme to support the most vulnerable during the financial fallout from Covid-19.

“Free school meals are ordinarily term-time only, and the national voucher scheme will not run during the summer holidays," a spokeswoman for the Department for Education said.

The PM's official spokesman later added: “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 to afford food and other basic essentials. The PM will respond to Marcus Rashford’s letter as soon as he can – he has been using his profile in a positive way to highlight some very important issues.”

On Monday night Rashford remained undeterred by the Government's position. Indeed he renewed his attempts to persuade the Government to reverse its decision by setting out his thoughts again to MPs on Tuesday. Tulip Siddiq, the shadow minister for children and early years, is expected to read out the footballer's arguments ahead of a potential debate in Parliament.

Despite garnering the support of a number of prominent Tory MPs, including Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, and the opposition, Rashford said his efforts would be in vain unless he forces an about-turn.

In his latest direct appeal to MPs, Rashford said: “People often ask me how I felt to score the deciding penalty to knock [Paris Saint-Germain] out of the Champions League last season, my answer is always the same: did we go on to win the tournament?

“I have been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received over the last 24 hours, from MPs and members of the public, but the feeling I have is exactly the same as when we got knocked out of the Champions League against Barcelona in the next round: what did we achieve if we didn’t get the result we needed? If we didn’t lift the Champions League trophy?

"Today I focus on a trophy that stands for something much bigger than football. A U-turn on the decision to stop the free food voucher scheme continuing over the summer holidays could help us reach the next round but we still have a very long way to go as a country to eventually lift the trophy. In this case, the trophy is combating child poverty.”

Rashford has implored the government to reconsider its stance as Boris Johnson faced growing pressure from within his own party.

“I think we can all agree that these are far from ordinary times, so our approach should be anything but ordinary to protect our vulnerable children,” Rashford wrote in The Times.

“When it comes to pulling the national team shirt on we put any rivalry aside - we are England and we stand united. Today I am asking that all MPs put their rivalries aside and stand in solidarity on an issue that could prove detrimental to the stability of families across the country for generations to come. Help us break the cycle of hardship.

“Please do the right thing and extend the free food voucher scheme throughout the school summer holidays. Give our vulnerable families just one less thing to worry about."

In England, about 1.3 million children from low-income backgrounds are eligible for free school meals. A national voucher scheme was introduced in March to help poorer families feed their children when schools were closed under lockdown measures.

Rashford, who has also helped to raise £20m to boost food distribution with the charity FareShare, described how his family had been forced to use food banks when he was a child.  In his emotional open letter to MPs, Rashford said his story is "all too familiar for families in England".

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said Rashford's letter was "important and moving" and that the striker "is right, we cannot let 1.3 million children go hungry this summer". Mr Starmer added: "Thank you, Marcus, for all the work you are doing to support children during the coronavirus crisis."

Ed Davey, acting Lib Dem leader, backbench Tory MPs and the mayors of both London and Manchester also voiced their strong support for Rashford's request. "As a child I benefited from free school meals," said Sadiq Khan, mayor of London. "The Government must extend its free school meal scheme for disadvantaged children over the summer holidays."

Andy Burnham, his Manchester counterpart, hailed Rashford's letter as "outstanding". "Personal, powerful and undeniable," the mayor tweeted. "In this of all summers, no child in Britain should be going hungry. I hope MPs on all sides listen to his call."

Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said: "I agree, given the exceptional circumstances we face, we should continue this summer to support the most vulnerable families who are currently helped by the food voucher scheme."

After returning from training on Monday, Rashford said he was "blown away with the support", adding that he still hopes the Government might reverse its decision.

"We aren’t beaten yet," he tweeted. "Stand strong for the 200,000 children who haven’t had a meal to eat today and keep retweeting #maketheUturn."

Rashford has previously spoken about how his family relied on breakfast clubs and free school meals as a child, and does not want other children to miss out from not having access to similar schemes.

He added: "As a black man from a low-income family in Wythenshawe, Manchester, I could have been just another statistic. Instead, due to the selfless actions of my mum, my family, my neighbours, and my coaches, the only stats I'm associated with are goals, appearances and caps. I would be doing myself, my family and my community an injustice if I didn't stand here today with my voice and my platform and ask you for help."

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, the country’s biggest teachers’ union, said the union “fully supports” Rashford’s demand to provide free school meals over the summer. Mr Davey, the acting Lib Dem leader, has written back to Rashford to thank him for his bravery in speaking out.

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