FOOTBALLER Marcus Rashford’s petition to end child food poverty was debated by MPs today after more than 1.1 million people backed it.

The petition calls on the government to expand access to free school meals, provide meals and activities during school holidays, and expand the Healthy Start food vouchers scheme.

Following a high-profile campaign by Mr Rashford last year, the government was forced to U-turn on its decision not to provide free school meals to disadvantaged children over the summer holidays and the October half-term.

Speaking at the time, Mr Rashford said: “There is still so much more to do, and my immediate concern is the approximate 1.7 million children who miss out on free school meals, holiday provision and Healthy Start vouchers because their family income isn’t quite low enough.”

Initiating the debate today, Catherine McKinnell MP noted that it took heavy cajoling from Mr Rashford, campaigners and MPs for government to provide free school meals.

She called for government action on unemployment, insecure work, welfare reform, and educational and social inequality to tackle the root causes of child food poverty.

“It’s a shocking reality that we live in a country where there’s no shortage of food, only a shortage of money to pay for it,” she said.

In response, Tory MP Tom Hunt said that although he commends Mr Rashford on his campaign, “the idea that all this [financial] support was cobbled together at the last minute because of Marcus Rashford is false.”

“Though his role needs to be highlighted, I think it is incorrect to say this wasn’t part of the government’s plan: it absolutely was,” he claimed.

The Westminster Hall debate was ongoing as the Morning Star went to print.

Before MPs met, the Manchester United forward told Channel 4 News that he was inspired to speak out against child poverty by his mother, who had to work multiple jobs to feed her family and sometimes skipped meals to ensure that her children ate.

“There’s too many inconsistencies in certain areas where kids grow up and it just sets them on a pathway that’s like that for the rest of their lives,” the 23-year-old added.