The premise of Jonathan Liew’s article (Mail on Sunday v Marcus Rashford: a sinister attack on a young black man, 16 November) seems to be that our writing about Mr Rashford purchasing buy-to-let homes is (a) somehow racist, and (b) part of some rightwing plot to discredit him. But these claims are as offensive as they are wrong and ignore several important points.
First, last month (25 October) our columnist Sarah Vine wrote a stinging article about the government’s disastrous response to Mr Rashford’s free school meals campaign. While she had only hostile words for the government, she described Mr Rashford as a “role model” and “a sincere young man who understands the issues from his own experience and who is trying in a dignified way to bring them to the fore”. The following week, we carried a 1,000-word piece across two pages from Mr Rashford himself about his campaign, which, as our headline said, has “inspired the nation”.
We wrote about Mr Rashford’s buy-to-let homes for exactly the same reason we’ve previously written about other high-profile footballers such as Robbie Fowler who’ve invested in this way – it’s simply an interesting story. Of course, we also mentioned Mr Rashford’s campaigning – that’s the reason he’s so much in the public eye.
Incidentally, it’s only people on the left who think there’s anything wrong with becoming a buy-to-let landlord. My view is the same as Mr Rashford’s – he’s in a profession with a notoriously short lifespan and he’s extremely wise to be making preparations for the future.
Ted Verity
Editor, Mail on Sunday
