UK government continues to distribute food stamps after Rashford campaign | Right away

The UK government decided on Tuesday to continue distributing food stamps to 1.3 million children during the summer holidays. The government decided to extend the programme following a campaign by Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.

The British government actually wanted to stop free meals for poor families through schools during the summer holidays, but a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the scheme would continue to exist. It will allocate 120 million pounds (approximately 134 million euros).

“The Prime Minister understands very well that children and parents are in an unprecedented situation in the summer because of the Corona pandemic,” the spokesman told a parliamentary debate. “That’s why we’re going to have a COVID-19 food fund in the summer.”

Rashford gets his way after urging the government in recent days via (social) media not to stop the program. On Monday, the 22-year-old attacker wrote a much-shared and emotional open letter, in which Rashford says that as a child he struggled with poverty and hunger. “This is not about politics, it’s about humanity,” he wrote.

Johnson’s spokesman praised Rashford’s role in the poverty debate. “The Prime Minister respects that he has used his fame as a top athlete to raise awareness of a major problem.”

Rashford, who has also raised around 20 million dollars (about 22 million euros) to provide meals to poor families with the charity FareShare UK, reacted with delight to the government’s turnaround on Twitter. ‘I don’t know what to say. See what we can do when we all come together. That’s England in 2020.’