THE U.K. Government reversed its decision to not extend free school meal vouchers throughout the summer holidays following a campaign by Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford.

Any English Premier League defender could testify that Rashford can be a fearsome opponent. Now the U.K. Government can attest to this too.

By eloquently and calmly putting forward his case for free school meals to be provided to the poorest families in England over the summer school holidays, the Manchester United star Tuesday forced the government into a U-turn after a series of emotive tweets and a heartfelt letter to MPs.

In England, about 1.3 million children from households which earn less than £7,400 (US$9,400) a year after tax are eligible for free school meals.

Rashford, 22, had penned an open letter to the government, which asked it to extend the system over the summer to help families who had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, however his plea was initially rejected.

The England star’s appeal to the government, however, came to fruition Tuesday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson reversing his decision, and thanking Rashford for his “contribution to the debate around poverty,” the BBC reported.

Children who are eligible for free school meals during term time will now get a six-week voucher for free meals during holidays.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Rashford tweeted after learning of Johnson’s decision. “Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020.”

On Monday afternoon, after the Department of Education had shunned his initial appeal, Rashford had tweeted: “We aren’t beaten yet, stand strong for the 200,000 children who haven’t had a meal to eat today and keep retweeting.”

Shortly after, he then shared four tweets using the same hashtag which highlighted the struggles of low-income families.

“When you wake up this morning and run your shower, take a second to think about parents who have had their water turned off during lockdown,” he said.

“When you turn on your kettle to make a cup of tea or coffee think of those parents who have had to default on electricity bill payments just to make ends meet having lost their jobs during the pandemic.

“And when you head to the fridge to grab the milk, stop and recognize that parents of at least 200,000 children across the country this morning are waking up to empty shelving.”

Rashford concluded: “Recognize children around the country are this morning innocently questioning ‘why?’ 9 out of 30 children in any given classroom are today asking ‘why?’ ‘Why’ does our future not matter?’”

Rashford, who says his family once relied on similar schemes, has raised over £20 million in partnership with charity FareShare to help provide meals for vulnerable families amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In his open letter to U.K. lawmakers Monday, Rashford, the youngest of five children, spoke about how as a child he relied on free school meals and “the kind actions of neighbors and coaches.”

“The system was not built for families like mine to succeed, regardless of how hard my mum worked,” he wrote. “This is not about politics; this is about humanity. Political affiliations aside, can we not all agree that no child should be going to bed hungry? Food poverty is a pandemic in England that could span generations if we don’t course correct now.”

The prime minister also personally thanked Rashford during a phone call Tuesday and revealed that he was only made aware of the situation through the 22-year-old’s campaign.

Asked if he was surprised by the government’s U-turn, Rashford told BBC Breakfast: “Yeah, I was obviously shocked. It’s a big decision for someone to make.

“I’m just grateful that the prime minister did change his decision and he understood and I spoke to him earlier on today [Tuesday] and just thanked him for that. It was a nice conversation to have with him and just that we understood each other.”

Asked what was said during the conversation with the prime minister, Rashford said: “He was just obviously saying thank you for using what I’ve sort of built in a positive manner. We were just thanking each other really because he didn’t have to do what he has done and neither did I. He was just grateful that someone had an opinion and just shared it with people and just been that voice for people that didn’t really have the platform to speak out as much as they would like to.”

Rashford also revealed that Johnson was compelled to reconsider his decision after watching a video of the United striker being interviewed about the campaign last week. “Yeah, he mentioned that on the phone and he just said that’s what sort of moved him really because he probably understood it a little bit more, like hearing it from someone rather than just reading it all or hearing about it,” Rashford said. “So I think that was obviously a key factor in him changing his decision.”

Rashford said the government’s decision is “not the end of it” as he promised to keep speaking up.

“This is only going to be successful throughout the summer period, so we’ve bought ourselves an extra six weeks of time there, and then we’ll figure out what’s next and how we keep taking steps forward,” Rashford told BBC Breakfast.

“I don’t want this to be the end of it because I think there are more steps that need to be taken.

“There are a lot of things that could change in the future and beyond this campaign.”

As one of England’s most talented players, Rashford has had the ability to influence others for a number of years, ever since he scored on his United debut in 2016 to become an instant hero, but over these last few months his voice has never been louder.

If a person’s true character is revealed during a crisis, Rashford has proven himself a leader — a player with drive and a social conscience, and a self-made multimillionaire who has used his profile to make a difference during a once-in-a-generation pandemic that has brought heartache and hardship on many.

Since the start of the pandemic, this Manchester-born son of a single mother has raised millions in donations alongside food charity FareShare, launched a poetry competition for deaf children and learned sign language. Few have been so prolific and effective during lockdown.

Last December he partnered on a drive to counter homelessness.

It was at the beginning of April, as the pandemic was taking hold in the U.K., that British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told English Premier League footballers to “make a contribution” and “play their part” in looking after the less fortunate.

Rashford has forced Hancock’s government to do the same.

Rashford had already achieved much in football: representing his country at a European Championship and a World Cup, scoring 64 goals for United.

He had collected a season-best 19 goals for his club — plus three more for England — by Jan. 15 when he succumbed to a double stress fracture.

In his United debut in 2016 in a 5-1 Europa League win over Midtjylland, Rashford’s stunning double that night made him United’s youngest-ever scorer, ahead of George Best. He then scored two more in his first Premier game, a 3–2 win over Arsenal, and hit the net in his League Cup, Champions League and England debuts.

At the age of 18 years and 141 days, he became the youngest scorer in a Manchester derby in the Premier era, in the 1–0 win over Man City.

Yet for a long time Rashford was gawky and shy in the spotlight he had sensationally created for himself. He was always a quiet, studious boy at school and college. But the gawky boy has now gone, replaced by an articulate, confident young man sure of his place not only as a United striker but also as a role model in society.(SD-Agencies)