Boris Johnson has congratulated Marcus Rashford after the Manchester United star forced the Government to provide free school meals during the summer - but says he only heard about the campaign today.
Earlier today the Government U-turned on his decision not to award free school meal vouchers over the summer holidays in England.
It followed a campaign by Rashford, 22, who received free school meals as a youngster growing up in Wythenshawe
And it means nearly 1.3 million children from low income families are now eligible for meal vouchers over the holidays.
Speaking at today's Downing Street press conference Mr Johnson said: "I talked to Marcus Rashford today to congratulate him on his campaigning, which to be honest I only became aware of very recently – today.
"I thank him for what he has done. I think he is right to draw attention to this issue, and basically we’ve got large numbers of kids who haven’t been able to get back into school.
"We’ve got a problem about getting kids back into school in the way that we would want, for the reasons that people understand, though actually there are lots of kids who could go back to school now who aren’t going back to school and I’d like to see that happen.
"I do think it’s right that we should be looking after families of the most vulnerable and the neediest right now and that’s why we have got the Covid summer food plan, which we’ve announced today, and I hope it will make a big difference to those kids and those families."
After the Government announced the U-turn Rashford tweeted: "I don’t even know what to say. Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020."
In an emotional letter published earlier this week, Rashford called on MPs to reverse the government's decision to end free school meals for low-income familes.
The England striker said the letter was 'written from the heart' and pleaded for authorities to let vulnerable children to continue receiving the free school means during summer.
