"Boris should be inviting Marcus Rashford to Downing Street": Eduation Select Committee chair

16 June 2020, 19:24

Conservative MP: Boris should be inviting Rashford to No10

A Conservative MP was blown away by the work of Marcus Rashford in his campaign against poverty and thought the PM could show some praise.

Robert Halfon is a Conservative MP who chairs the Education Select Committee and he was speaking to Eddie Mair after the government took a U-turn on it's stance on providing free school meals to families over the summer, which affects 1.3 million children.

England footballer Marcus Rashford was spearheading the campaign which ultimately made the government buckle on their stance, and Mr Halfon was captivated by the work done by the winger.

"He captured the imagination of the public, even his tweet afterwards was so dignified when he said England 2020" he said. The chair of the Education Select Committee added that the work of the footballer deserves recognition from the Prime Minister.

"Boris should have him in Downing Street right now to improve the ladder of opportunity for everyone."

After Eddie suggested this to be a potentially embarrassing situation for the PM, Mr Halfon suggested that he himself "scrutinised the work of the government" and added that he "wouldn't have communicated it in this way" in relation to the government's insistence yesterday that there was no way they would bow to the campaign.

Mr Halfon suggested that it was only a matter of time before the government reversed their decision. "There were a number of MPs that were saying they were going to rebel against the government" he said.

The Conservative MP thought that "a good decision has been made that will benefit a lot of people facing financial hardship."

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