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On the day his political soulmate was belatedly urged to show some humility after the defeat in the US election, Boris Johnson once again bowed to the better judgment of a 23-year-old footballer, in the latest of a series. high profile U shape. -welt.
After weeks of persevering and refusing to give in to calls to extend free school meals to children from low-income families during the school holidays in England, Johnson called Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford on Saturday night to inform him of your change. from the heart.
The package includes a £ 170 million Covid winter grant program to help vulnerable families in England and an extension of the holiday activities and food program to the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays next year.
The reversal came after a crescendo of criticism, led by Rashford, but also from charities, the opposition, the media on both sides of the political divide, and even some Tory MPs, who realized how out of tune his party was. with the mood of the public.
It was the second time the Manchester United star forced the government to change course this year. On the previous occasion, which earned Rashford an MBE last month, No. 10 had initially rejected his request that he continue to pay food stamps of £ 15 a week for some of England’s poorest families during the summer, just to give in in the middle of a public outcry.
Just under five months later, the Old Etonian prime minister picked up the phone and called Rashford back, who has spoken of his experience of food poverty growing up in Wythenshawe, breaking the news in what the forward described as “good conversation”.
Demonstrating diplomatic skills to match his soccer prowess, Rashford said: “There is still a lot more to do, and my immediate concern is the approximately 1.7 million children who miss out on free school meals, vacation provision and Healthy vouchers. Start due to your family income is not low enough. But the intention that the government has shown today is nothing but positive, and they should be recognized for that. “
Among those who praised Rashford’s role were Save the Children United Kingdom, the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The tennis coach Judy Murray just tweeted: “Rashford 2 Johnston [sic] 0. “
Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield said: “I welcome these steps to provide more free meals and healthy diets for children in need and festive activities. Families are facing tough times financially and this will help. “
Longfield had previously compared the debate on the subject to something from the pages of Charles Dickens’s 19th-century novel, Oliver Twist. Conservative MPs had suggested that extending free school meals would increase dependency or destroy the currency due to cost.
A Conservative MP, Brendan Clarke-Smith, called for “less celebrity virtue signaling on Twitter for proxy and more action to address the real causes of child poverty.” After the Conservatives defeated a Labor motion to extend free school meals, city councils, local businesses, charities and community groups stepped in to fill the void for half the term, opposition and accusations of pointing out the virtues they appeared more and more remote from reality. However, Downing Street repeatedly refused to praise the organizations, saying only that it did not believe free school meals were necessary outside of the quarter.
In a year that has also seen U-turns in the second national lockdown, extending the licensing scheme and A-level and GCSE results, Rashford’s warning that “there is still a lot more to do” may see Johnson come out in a cold sweat.
Of the three demands in Rashford’s petition to end child food poverty, which has attracted more than 1 million signatures, the one that remains unfulfilled is: “Extend free school meals to all children under 16 years of age in for a parent or guardian to receive universal credit or equivalent benefit. ”The government is also prepared for a battle over the pandemic supplement of £ 20 a week to universal credit, which will end in April.
Longfield Y the Trussell Trust were among those who tempered their appreciation for the latest radical policy change by calling for the £ 20 universal credit increase to be withheld. Becca Lyon, Save the Children UK head of child poverty, said: “Families should know that They are not going to have to pay £ 1,000 next year when the increase ends in April. “
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