The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rashford launches petition urging government to end child poverty
Marc us Rashford has launched a petition urging the UK Government to act now to end child poverty.
The Manchester United and England striker is pressing ministers to go further in tackling child hunger.
The parliamentary petition is calling for three policy recommendations by the National Food Strategy to be made without delay – including expanding free school meals to all households on Universal Credit.
“Fo r too long this conversation has been delayed. Child food poverty in the UK is not a result of Covid-19. We must act with urgency to stabilise the households of our vulnerable children,” Rashford said.
It comes after the England footballer forced a government U-turn on free school meal vouchers for eligible pupils over the summer holidays.
Since then, Rashford
has formed a child food poverty taskforce which has linked up with some of the UK ’s biggest supermarkets and food brands.
The campaign comes as charity Food Foundation has released data which suggests nearly a fifth (18%) of eight to 17-yearolds reported experiences of food insecurity over the summer holidays.
Extrapolated to reflect the UK population, this suggests 1.4 million children are experiencing food insecurity.
Anna Taylor, executive director of Food Foundation, said: “The government needs to put in place a solution to school holiday hunger and implement the recommendations in the National Food Strategy.”