Marcus Rashford’s appeal to extend free school meals over Christmas rejected by Rishi Sunak

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has rejected Marcus Rashford’s calls for free school meals to be extended over the Christmas period, recent comments on the matter have suggested.

Rashford, who famously forced the government into a U-turn after his historic campaign for free school meals throughout the holidays last year, recently joined forces with supermarket bosses and food industry giants to potentially prolong the scheme. 

However, while appearing on The Andrew Marr Show over the weekend, Rishi Sunak suggested that the scheme was not going to be extended over the winter, noting that if the furlough scheme was coming to an end, free school meals during holidays would be too. 

BBC

Sunak said: “So we put in place some measures to help families during coronavirus, that was the right thing to do, and in common with the other things that have now come to an end, whether it was furlough or other things, that’s right that we’ve transitioned to a more normal way of doing things.

“But we have replaced… But we have actually already acted, is what I’d say to Marcus and everyone else.”

He also detailed the new holiday activities program, which provides both meals and activities for children during holiday periods for those families that need extra help.

He explained: “That is a new programme, it was announced earlier this year, it’s being rolled out across the country, and I think that can make an enormous difference to people.”

This comes just weeks after the Man United star unsuccessfully called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to abandon its plan to cut the £20 universal credit uplift and instead tackle the ongoing ‘child hunger pandemic’.

He said, as per The Guardian: “Instead of removing vital support, we should be focusing on developing a long-term roadmap out of this child hunger pandemic… Millions will lose a lifeline. It’s a move that Child Poverty Action Group says will raise child poverty to one in three.”

The £20 universal credit rise, which was introduced during the pandemic last year and impacted over 5.8 million universal credit claimers, was axed earlier this month on October 6th. The government’s argument is that as the economy opens back up, the focus needs to shift to getting people back to work.