London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

UK minister lambasted after ‘dismissive’ response to Man Utd star’s free school meals plea as govt cave in to footballer’s demands

UK minister lambasted after ‘dismissive’ response to Man Utd star’s free school meals plea as govt cave in to footballer’s demands

A UK minister has come under fire after delivering a blunt response to Man Utd footballer Marcus Rashford’s plea to the government – that was duly acted on – to reverse a decision to stop giving free school meals to poor kids.

The 22-year-old English Premier League striker has been a notable critic of the UK government’s decision to halt its £15-a-week free meal vouchers for children over the summer holidays. On Tuesday Rashford tweeted a thread, asking the British public to imagine being in the shoes of a family struggling to make ends meet during the Covid-19 lockdown.

In the first of four tweets he asked people to “take a second to think about parents who have had their water turned off during lockdown.” It prompted the UK Work and Pensions Secretary – Therese Coffey – to harshly reply: “Water cannot be disconnected though.”

Rashford – who has gained much publicity with his campaign – hit back at the minister, saying that he was “concerned” this was the only response she had given in acknowledgement of his tweets on the risk of children going hungry, and called on Coffey to “put rivalries aside.”



Rashford’s campaign ultimately proved successful – with the UK government making a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after the footballer’s altercation with Coffey. Explaining the change of heart, PM Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said: “Owing to the corona pandemic, the PM fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer.”

Coffey’s flippant reply to Rashford provoked a flurry of angry responses on social media with some people accusing the minister of “tone deafness,” and described her tweet as “Sneering, smug and vulgar.”

Former BBC journalist Ben Smith suggested the Tory minister was “detached from reality,” insisting that she should be “ashamed” of her comments that were “Dismissive, flippant, arrogant.”

Others took issue at her focus on how households will never be in a position whereby they will have their water supply cut off, with one commenter sarcastically joking: Can children eat water?

Coffey did reply rather belatedly to Rashford, with a more substantive response about what the government was doing to help struggling families during the pandemic, but was also given short shrift by her critics.

Reacting to the government’s reversal on free school meals for 1.3m vulnerable children, Rashford tweeted: “I don’t even know what to say. Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020.”

Johnson’s administration had justified their refusal to back down by insisting that it was normal for the food voucher scheme to stop during summer holidays, but critics insisted that the country wasn’t living in “normal” times amid the coronavirus crisis, which has seen many people lose their jobs.

Both the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments plan to keep the provisions of school meal vouchers throughout the vacation period, while Northern Ireland says it will be stopped.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
×