Rashford scores

Food campaign gathers pace

THE EXTENT to which Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend free school meals into the holidays has caught the public mood is amply demonstrated by the fact that more than a million people have signed a petition showing support for it.

Their signatures are also an ample demonstration of something else – that the Government is badly out of touch with public opinion on this most emotive issue of children going hungry.

This has now been underlined by Lord Barwell, chief of staff to former Prime Minister Theresa May, who is incredulous at how badly the Government has handled things, which in the eyes of many looks like a callous disregard for this country’s vulnerable young people.

That a Tory peer should be so critical, and that Conservative councils have taken matters into their own hands by promising to ensure children get meals, is the measure of how far out on a limb the Government now finds itself.

Mr Rashford is an exceptional and admirable public figure, not only on the football pitch, but for the immense moral authority he brings to the issue of childhood poverty, having sadly suffered it himself.

That is why many more people are likely to add their names to his petition.

In contrast, the Government looks mean and uncaring, especially given the relatively modest cost of ensuring that children do not go hungry at Christmas.

The campaign now has the feeling of unstoppable momentum, and the Government’s refusal to give way stubbornness for its own sake. A U- turn becomes ever more possible.