Marcus Rashford warns prime minister free school meals ‘is not the end of it’

Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend children’s free school meals throughout summer holidays was a success, after causing Boris Johnson to do u-turn.

The 22-year-old Man United star has now been praised by Boris Johnson for his highly personal campaign, which has forced the government to change its policy.

The government announced on Tuesday a one-off campaign to feed 1.3million children in England over the six-week summer period, with £120 million in funds.

Marcus Rashford’s social media campaign received huge backing from celebrities and football clubs, but Rashford says it’s ‘not the end of it’.

In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Rashford said he was ‘shocked’ by the decision, adding: “It’s a big decision for someone to make and I’m just grateful that the Prime Minister did change his decision and he understood.

“I spoke to him and thanked him for that. It’s a nice feeling but I’m just happy that people’s lives, and people’s summers especially, have been changed for the better.”

But Rashford went on to explain that people struggle ‘all year round’, saying: “I think this is only going to be successful throughout the summer period so we’ve bought ourselves six weeks of time now to plan and figure out what’s next and keep taking steps forward”.

Rashford wrote an open letter to the government on Monday, asking them to reverse the decision on not awarding free school meal vouchers to vulnerable children outside of term time. 

Amid the pressure, the Government said it would provide a Covid Summer Food Fund to help those families that face ‘unprecedented situation’ over the holidays. 

When talking about his phone call with Boris Johnson, Rashford said they ‘understood each other’ and that it was ‘a nice conversation to have with him’ 

Rashford said: “He was just grateful that someone had an opinion and shared it with people.

“Being that voice for people who didn’t really have the platform to speak out as much as they would like to.”

Rashford added: “I don’t want this to be the end of it because I think there are more steps that need to be taken, so we just need to analyse the response.

“Things like data in these type of topics are very important, and it is something that I wasn’t aware of beforehand, and now that I am aware of that I’ll definitely be watching that closely and seeing the response and how people cope with the situation, how it changes their lives for the better or the problems they might face with the system.

“So there are a lot of things that could change in the future and beyond this campaign.”

The payment for the free school dinner extension is expected to be in the form of a one-off six-week voucher, given to eligible families at the end of the term to use in supermarkets.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said the vouchers will amount to £15 per week per child and that 1.3 million children will be eligible.

The government made it clear the scheme will not continue beyond the summer.