Boris the Bold has scored a winning goal for millions by listening to Rashford’s heroic free school meals plea
BORIS the Bold has turned the game around - and scored a winning goal.
The PM today declared that free school meals WILL be extended over the summer holidays, after a heroic campaign by England striker Marcus Rashford.
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Millions facing 'holiday hunger'
It's a move that will benefit millions of disadvantaged families. And it couldn't come at a greater time of need: with our nation on the brink of the worst ever 'holiday hunger'.
The Covid pandemic has had a devastating financial impact on families up and down the country, with millions now struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
Parents are, understandably, racked with anxiety over job losses, loved ones' health and school closures, which have seen classrooms lie empty for 12 weeks.
And this week, with the summer holidays looming, they faced another worry: how would they feed their children without free school meal vouchers?
Footie ace's heroic campaign
It's a fear Rashford has bravely alleviated.
The Man Utd star made an impassioned plea to the Government to prioritise England's most vulnerable kids by extending the vouchers scheme over the six-week holidays.
Under the programme, the families of around 1.3 million children eligible for free school meals are given £15 a week in vouchers to spend in supermarkets to keep their kids fed.
"This is not about politics; this is about humanity," Rashford wrote in an open letter. "Political affiliations aside, can we not all agree that no child should be going to bed hungry?"
The footballer was speaking from real experience: growing up in a low-income household in Manchester, his own family relied on free school meals and breakfast clubs.
Today, a similar hand-to-mouth existence is being lived by millions of children across the country. And, in recent months, it's been compounded by the coronavirus outbreak.
Despite the Government's excellent furlough scheme, 600,000 Brits have lost their jobs during lockdown, with unemployment now set to hit the three million mark.
Families living 'on a knife's edge'
As Rashford rightly observes, many families are living "on a knife's edge", gripped with fear over how they will pay their bills, cover their rent or even put food on the table.
This is proven by new data from The Food Foundation, showing that food insecurity in households with children has nearly DOUBLED since the pandemic began.
The research also reveals more than 200,000 youngsters have been forced to skip meals during lockdown because their family couldn’t access sufficient food.
As Chair of the Commons Education Committee, I was delighted when, earlier this year, the Government extended its free school meals scheme for the Easter and May half-term holidays.
Yet, like many, I believed its decision to halt the programme for the summer break was wrong.
Free school meal vouchers have been a lifeline for many poverty-stricken families during the Covid lockdown
Robert Halfon MP
In my view, this was for three key reasons:
Firstly, the vouchers have been a lifeline for many poverty-stricken families during the Covid lockdown. With further worrying and uncertain weeks ahead, these families need consistency.
Secondly, and closely linked, is that millions of parents are struggling financially at the moment - something that may be exacerbated in August, when furlough contributions change.
Feeding their kids over the summer will push their already stretched budgets to breaking point. Yet these youngsters desperately need, and deserve, nutritional meals.
Thirdly, around three million children are at risk of holiday hunger every year (and without ongoing free school meals, the figure would have likely jumped this summer).
Extending the scheme was simply the right thing to do.
It was also relatively easy: yes, it's coming out of a £120 million Covid Summer Food Fund, but unlike other schemes, it isn't bureaucratic and it's understood by parents across England.
It also goes to those who need it the most.
Impacting children's life chances
Studies have shown that food poverty doesn't just impact on children's health: malnourished kids are less likely to perform as well in the classroom as their better-off peers.
This can shape the course of their adult life.
England is already facing an educational 'Ice Age' if schools can't open in September - by which point, children will have been out of education for six months.
Despite parents' home-schooling efforts, 55 per cent of teachers in the country's most deprived areas have suggested their students are learning for less than one hour a day.
And some 700,000 youngsters don’t have access to a computer or tablet at all.
It's why I've called for 'Alan Turing' catch-up summer camps to be set up in school buildings, village halls and marquees - anywhere that can be used to educate our kids.
It's also why, despite being a Tory MP, I publicly announced I would vote with Labour today and call on the Government to extend free school meals over the summer.
To use a football analogy, it felt strange going to play for the opposite side. But like Rashford, I knew that impoverished families across the UK deserved more.
To use a football analogy, it felt strange going to play for the opposite side - but I knew impoverished families deserved more
Robert Halfon MP
Fortunately, Boris has seen sense, too.
Amid this crisis, we need a bold vision from the PM about our children's education: what are we going to do to get them learning again? How will we get them back to schools?
We need an exciting, confident agenda, because the next generation depends on it. With today's move, Boris has shown these families that, yes, we do mean business.
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As for Rashford, he has done as much - if not more - for disadvantaged families than any politician. He's brought a vital issue onto the national stage in a dignified way.
Unlike virtue-signalling celebrities who fly on a plane from Los Angeles then go on about saving the environment, he has practised what he preaches.
And in doing so, he's shown himself to be a nation icon on and off the pitch.
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