Rashford 1- Johnson 0: Why are we relying on celebrities to protect our most vulnerable?

The open letter penned by Marcus Rashford to Boris Johnson sheds light, once again, on the terrible failings of the UK government to protect the most vulnerable of its citizens. It also begs one very important question that has been plaguing me for a while: why does it take celebrity intervention or national uproar for this government to do the right thing?

It seems that for the current UK government to make any positive decisions in parliament they must first be challenged by celebrities who, despite not being qualified for a position in parliament, have a seemingly better grasp on leadership, humility and common decency than the men leading the country. People like Hugh Grant, Stephen Fry and Jade Thirlwall have pressured the government’s decisions on issues like LGBT rights and the unlawful suspension of parliament in a bid to make the government do the right thing.

And in the latest spate of celebrity vs Boris is the heartfelt plea of Marcus Rashford.

In 2019, there was a 100,000 person increase in the amount of children living under the breadline in the UK; that’s 4.2 million British children living in relative poverty. Of that figure, 1.3 million of them were registered for free school meals yet only one quarter of those registered were receiving help during the pandemic. It took me a mere ten minutes to find that data online, yet it’s something the prime minister and his gang of thieves seem to have missed over the last few weeks.

Upon receiving initial backlash from the opposition and Tory backbenchers regarding his decision to not extend the free school meal programme into the summer holidays during a global pandemic where many low income families were losing their jobs, Johnson defended his idea by saying that the whole country was going through a “difficult time”. The point, which he seemed to so plainly miss, is that the health and safety of millions of children is not something to be debated. It should have gone without saying. How can millions of children be denied a £15 a week meal voucher, whilst Iain Duncan Smith is allowed to claim £39 worth of expenses for one single breakfast?

But, of course Johnson had no intention of helping the poor. Instead of listening to his [better natured] colleagues in Whitehall, Johnson dug in his heels and forced opposing Tory MPs through the voting lobbies to counter Rashford’s plea. His actions imply that he is seemingly unaware of the deepening poverty that this country is facing because, surely, no decent man would allow 4.2 million of his own countrymen (or country-children?) go hungry.

Well apparently he would. I suppose the apple doesn’t grow far from the milk snatching tree does it? Of course, Johnson tried to defend his actions by downplaying his role in the decision and claiming he had not been made aware of Rashford’s letter until Tuesday morning - despite trying to force MPs to reject the footballers plea a mere 24 hours earlier. But the thing is, even if Johnson had been unaware of Rashford’s letter the numbers were there. The statistics are accessible for everyone to see, so why is it that our Prime Minister didn’t know? Why did it take a 22-year-old footballer for him to realise the very flaws that plague his own country?

It’s a classic BoJo move that is becoming all too familiar. Play the fool, ask to be absolvent and hope the country forgives your for your trespasses.

But we cannot let it go this time. We cannot be reliant on celebrity figures to call him out on inhumanity every time it happens. Cases like this only make me wonder what other inhumane, unjust legislation has been sneaked past parliament without anyone realising.

What we have all learned from this Tory government is: if they can sneak it past parliament without anyone noticing, success. If they get called out on their, frankly, criminal policy then its simply another misstep, an accident… a mistake that warrants forgiveness.