Piers Morgan savages Therese Coffey over ‘heartless’ response to Marcus Rashford’s plea
Therese #Therese
Piers Morgan lashed out at Therese Coffey’s “shameful and disgusting” response to Marcus Rashford’s plea to the government to offer free school meals over the summer.
Manchester United star Marcus, 22, recently penned an emotional letter to MPs pleading them to “protect the vulnerable” by offering meal vouchers to underprivileged children over the summer.
The England footballer spoke about his own experience, saying that his family relied on breakfast clubs and free school meals while he was growing up.
Piers Morgan let rip at Therese Coffey over her response to Marcus Rashford’s plea (Image: ITV) Piers branded the Work and Pensions Secretary’s response ‘tone deaf’ (Image: AFP via Getty Images) Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles
Attempting to get Prime Minister Boris Johnson to make a u-turn after rejecting his call, despite huge support, Marcus tweeted this morning: “1. 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 #maketheuturn.”
However, the Secretary of State replied: “Water cannot be disconnected though.”
Piers and co-host Susanna Reid blasted the “tone deaf” response and slammed her “arrogance”.
(Image: Twitter) Piers raged that the Tory MP ‘shouldn’t be government’ (Image: ITV)
The 55-year-old raged that she “shouldn’t be in government” and that her tweet was “utterly staggering”.
“I wouldn’t trust Therese Coffey to make a coffee – and she’s Secretary of State,” Piers said.
“The arrogance of that response,” he raged. “She shouldn’t be in government… you were useless when you came on [GMB] and now you’re utterly useless in that response.”
Piers quipped that he ‘wouldn’t trust her to make a cup of coffee’ (Image: ITV)
Piers raged: “No empathy, no attempt to understand, no attempt to support him. Marcus Rashford isn’t coming at this as a politician, he doesn’t care what side you’re on. He just wants to help kids who can’t get food cos he was one himself.
“And people wonder why we shout at these people – I’d probably shout at her right now, if she was on. Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t all of you?
“That’s her response. One line.”
He added: “Unbelievable. The tone deafness of that response just about epitomises this government. Heartless, utterly heartless. Devoid of empathy. Devoid of any ability to see through any of their job-saving nonsense.
“Therese Coffey, shame on you.”
Marcus has since responded to the Tory MP’s tweet, writing: “I’m concerned this is the only tweet of mine you acknowledged. Please, put rivalries aside for a second, and make a difference #maketheuturn.”
Worth £15 a week, free school meal vouchers help poor families with the extra cost of feeding kids stuck at home during Covid-19.
They were extended over the Easter holidays after public pressure – but so far the government has refused pleas to keep them over summer too.
Instead, the government has promised a £63million fund for councils to help families who are struggling to buy “food and other basic essentials.”
Marcus Rashford wants free school meals to be extended over the summer
Downing Street said it “expects” schools to use the money to make food parcels available for collection or delivery.
But critics say that’s not good enough – and Labour says extending the vouchers would cost £115m, almost double but a drop in the ocean compared to other coronavirus projects.
Rashford had written: “Wembley Stadium could be filled twice with children who have had to skip meals during lockdown due to their families not being able to access food.
“As their stomachs grumble, I wonder if those 200,000 children will ever be proud enough of their country to pull on the England shirt and sing the national anthem.
“Ten years ago, I would have been one of those children. This is England in 2020.”
The PM praised Rashford for using his profile “to highlight some very important issues”.
But No.10 confirmed the scheme would not extend into the summer break.
Rashford vowed to fight on, tweeting: “We aren’t beaten yet, stand strong for the 200,000 children who haven’t had a meal to eat today.”
He has raised about £20million to supply three million meals to vulnerable people with charity FareShare UK during the lockdown.
*Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV