The Guardian view on Marcus Rashford's triumph: a political masterclass | Editorial

By persuading the government to extend the free meal voucher scheme, the Manchester United footballer has taught the prime minister a lesson on solidarity

This Friday, Marcus Rashford will hope to play a starring role for Manchester United, as his team resumes its interrupted Premier League campaign. Even if the 22-year-old striker scores a match-winning hat-trick, it will still not come close to being his best performance of the week.

On Monday, Mr Rashford published an open letter to MPs. In it he called for an extension, through the summer holidays, of the voucher scheme that has provided children from poorer families with free meals during lockdown. With cool condescension, Downing Street initially let it be known that, though the footballer had used his fame to “highlight some very important issues”, Boris Johnson would not be taking up his idea. The scheme, it was needlessly pointed out, ordinarily operated only during term time.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zGgSb2