Tory minister praises Marcus Rashford for putting spotlight on child poverty
A government minister has hailed the efforts of Marcus Rashford for highlighting the plight of disadvantaged families during the pandemic.
Children's Minister Vicky Ford said the Manchester United and England striker had helped the government by putting a "spotlight" on the levels of support needed by low income families.
However, she said ministers had already been working on schemes to support needy families before the Covid crisis, including the £220 million Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
The Government came in for criticism last year over the issue of free school meals during holidays, with Boris Johnson finally agreeing to extend the provision after Rashford had intervened.
Mrs Ford was in the Black Country this week to visit venues running HAF schemes in Walsall and Wolverhampton.
On Rashford, she said: "It's really helpful that he has continued to focus on children and families throughout the pandemic.
"His intervention is helpful, but we already had the HAF project going in its trials before, so while Marcus helped put a spotlight on it, as a government it is something we were already working on."
Tory MPs across the country were widely criticised in October after Boris Johnson ordered them to vote down an opposition day motion on extending free school meals during holidays.
The move was seized on by the Labour Party and trade unions, which organised protests outside the offices of Conservative MPs, including some in the Black Country and Staffordshire.
Defending the Government's position, Chelmsford MP Mrs Ford said: "This government has expanded free school meals to more children than any government of the past 50 years.
"We have made sure that food was available during the pandemic with the free school meals voucher system – no one had ever done anything like that before – and we have also made sure local authorities have had extra money to support families with food and fuel.
"Labour then wanted me to say that schools needed to provide a voucher for food in the summer holidays, which they have never done before because they need to have a break.
"We can get that support to kids in much, much better ways, which is what we are focused on doing."
