Mum’s medal
Marcus Rashford has vowed to keep campaigning to lift children out of poverty after receiving his MBE, saying he will give the medal to his mum.
The England footballer, who last year forced two major government U-turns to extend free school meals into the school holidays, received his MBE for services to vulnerable children at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
Rashford, 24, has helped raise enough money since March 2020 to help the food waste charity FareShare distribute more than 21m meals for families experiencing food insecurity.
Rashford was outspoken in his opposition to the government’s axing of the £1,040-a-year – £20-a-week – universal credit uplift on 6 October.
It’s not a particularly glamorous or sexy cause. Respect.
The Manchester United striker said he would continue to campaign to “give children the things I didn’t have when I was a kid”, adding: “If I did have, I would have been much better off and had many more options in my life.
“For me, it is a punishment for them not to be getting things like meals or supplies of books.”
A punishment and a handicap. Meals and books are basics for education, and education is basic for more options.
There are… *googles quickly* 5000 professional football players in the country, but only one of their mums can say “Oh that? That’s my son’s MBE he just got for his work to keep vulnerable children fed. Oh, and he’s a professional footballer”
Re #1
That is a great turnabout of an old joke with many variations:
“Is that your daughter down there being sworn in as the first woman president?”
“Yeah, her brother is the starting quarterback for Enormous University, and I’m so proud of him!”
Quite the reverse. A lot of people are against that £20 a week because, as everyone knows, it all goes to single mothers who sit around with their brand new iphones watching their big screen TVs and probably having sex occasionally or something.
A lot of people seem to have an extraordinary fear that someone might be getting something they’re not. Whether or not its a thing they need doesn’t seem to come into it.