Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has ramped up pressure on Boris Johnson and MPs to find their "humanity” and perform a U-turn over their decision not to provide meal vouchers to vulnerable children over the summer.
The government rejected the England international’s plea on Monday, which Rashford fears will lead to mental illness as well as intensifying what he describes as a food poverty pandemic in England.
The 22-year-old has already raised over £20million to support charity FareShare during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Evening Standard launched its Food For London Now appeal because of the hunger crisis sparked by Covid-19. The Standard has raised £6.5m towards its £10m target to help fund the work of the Felix Project of feeding the poor and vulnerable.
But Rashford insists more must done at government level and is refusing to back down in his bid to make Mr Johnson act.
Writing in the Times he said: “I don’t claim to have the education of an MP in parliament, but I do have a social education. I am clued up on the difference a U-turn decision would make on the 1.3 million vulnerable children across the UK who are registered for free school meals because ten years ago I was one of them.
“As I passed through Manchester city centre on the bus as a child and witnessed homelessness on every street corner, I swore that if one day I got in a position to help those people most in need then that is what I would do.
“I recognise that I have a valuable platform that allows my voice to be heard and I’m asking you to listen to the stories of these vulnerable families. People are hurting and we continue to ignore their cries for help.
“This is a pandemic that will last generations if we don’t change our thinking now.
“We should consider that these pandemics we are living through, Covid-19 and child poverty, will have huge effects on the long-term mental stability of both parents and children, and their reintegration into society. A society which, in their eyes, is failing them.”
In response to Rashford’s open letter on Monday Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: "The prime minister understands the issues facing families across the UK, which is why last week the government announced an additional £63million 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 to highlight some very important issues."
Rashford responded on social media – insisting he would not give up the fight and urging his 2.7million followers to apply pressure to local MPs using the hashtag #maketheUturn.
He continued in column: “People often ask me how it felt to score the deciding penalty against PSG to knock them 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.”
